Tragic lesson for rural schools

The teachers quarters at SK Batu Bungan in Mulu National Park where a fire killed a teacher and injured two others. - Bomba Sarawak pic

The death of Catherine Janet Tiwi is a wake-up call to improve safety and facilities in schools in interior Sarawak. 

THERE was a blackout at the tea­chers’ quarters of SK Batu Bungan in Mulu, Sarawak, in the early morning of July 25. Then a fire broke out and spread quickly.

Catherine Janet Tiwi was already safe. But the 25-year-old primary school teacher rushed back into the burning building to save her two colleagues.

She, however, got trapped. The daughter of a fireman died of excessive smoke inhalation.

.The two teachers Catherine was trying to save managed to get out of the quarters. Nur Syuhada Azhari suffered 22% burns and Siti Masrina Nian had minor injuries on her foot.

The three teachers from SK Peng­hulu Baya Mallang, Baram, were in SK Batu Bungan to accompany students attending a five-day Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) motivation camp.

Sarawakians have hailed Cathe­rine as a hero for her selfless act.

The Bidayuh from Bau, said Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching, was “a rare breed – one who was willing to serve in the most remote school that others tried very hard to avoid”.

“We lack teachers with such passion. Many people want to become teachers, but very few are willing to serve in the rural areas. Catherine chose to serve in a rural area under category P3 – one of the most difficult areas. Her passing is a big loss to the Education Ministry,” The Bor­neo Post reported Teo as saying.

Fire and Rescue Department state director Nor Hisham Mohammad said initial investigations revealed that a short circuit might have caused the fire. It was likely to be in the wiring of the electrical socket connected to the television in the living room of the building where the fire originated, news portal Daily Dayak quoted him as saying.

Catherine’s death could have been prevented, said Julau MP Lar­ry Sng of PKR, if the teachers’ quarters had better electrical wiring.

“In my previous state constituency of Pelagus, it is common to have one longhouse getting burned down every year because of wiring is­­sues,” he said.

Pelagus is a remote seat along the Rajang River, Malaysia’s longest river.

Two days before the fatal fire, Sng spoke in Parliament about the biggest issue facing his current constituency in rural Sarawak.

In Julau, he said, out of the 34 primary schools, only five were connected to the power grid.

Seven of these schools were too far in the interior to be connected to the grid and needed generator sets.

However, Sng said there were 22 schools not connected to the electricity grid although they were less than 10m from the power lines.

This problem, he said, could be solved within three months.

It costs about RM200,000 to rewire a school and to connect it to the electricity grid.

Sng said the cost of operating a generator set (including fuel, transportation and maintenance) is about RM50,000 per school a month.

But if a school is connected to the power lines, its monthly electricity bill is about RM500.

“Using a generator is 100 times more expensive compared with the electricity bill of a school connected to the main grid,” he told Parlia­ment.

On Monday, I met Sng during Parliament lunch break.

He spoke about how surprised he was when visiting a school, about two-and-a-half hours’ drive from Sibu, in his constituency on July 13.

At SK Nanga Kedup, he saw power lines along the gravel road. They were about 10m from the single-storey primary school and yet they were not connected to SK Nanga Kedup.

He wondered why the Iban longhouse near the school was connected to the main grid but not the school.

The MP also found out the school didn’t have piped water supply.

The teachers and students had to get water from a river along the school.

Later, in a meeting with the teachers, Sng was told that such si­tuations are common.

“In this day and age, we should be paying attention to the basic amenities of our schools. This is not a lu­­xury but a necessity.

The schoolchildren shouldn’t have to worry about piped water or electricity when they should be focusing on their education,” he said.

“In SMK Julau 2, the boys sleep on floor as there are no beds in the hostel. And for one and a half years there was no water in the teachers’ quarter and boys’ hostel although the water tank was only 200m away.”

He said the Deputy Education Minister was resolving the matter.

The situation is not unique to Julau.

In Sarawak, according to a Ber­nama report, there were 428 rural schools that had yet to have treated water supply and 371 schools that were fully dependent on generator sets.

There were also 1,020 schools in dilapidated condition, contributing to mishaps such as the collapsed hostel at SK Punan Ba in Belaga in 2011.

Now that Catherine’s death has highlighted the deplorable conditions of many rural schools in Sara­wak, Sng hopes the Education Mi­­nis­­try will address the issue quickly.- Star

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