Kota Kinabalu: The school session in 62 schools involving 23,740 students in Papar are operating as usual despite the district being declared a drought disaster area following a critical water supply crisis due to the hot weather for the past few weeks.
Sabah Education director Datuk Raisin Saidin said so far the situation is still under control and the school operations are going on as usual.
“We will receive updates on the weather situation from the Malaysian Meteorological Department from time to time. If there is an order (for the school session to be temporarily closed) and the hot weather does not allow us to attend school, then we will comply with the order.”
“For now the situation is under control and schools are operating as usual,” he said when contacted by Bernama here today.
Yesterday, the Papar district disaster management committee in a statement declared Papar, located about 38 kilometres from Kota Kinabalu, as a drought disaster area following the water supply crisis due to the hot weather in the district.
In the meantime, Raisin also asked all schools to limit outdoor activities due to the extremely hot weather in Papar and throughout the state.
Additionally, the Papar District Education Office (PPD) was also asked to identify any school in need of water and to then send a letter of application to the Sabah Water Department (JANS) for the delivery of water to the schools involved.
“There are as many as seven boarding schools in Papar involving a total of 1,600 residents,” he said, adding that the water supply will also be channelled by the relevant department to each dormitory involved for the students’ use.
He also said the Sabah Education Department is also planning to send a supply of drinking water to every school, especially those facing critical water problems in Papar as part of the department’s efforts to ensure that students have an adequate supply of drinking water while at school.
All schools throughout Sabah also need to report to the PPD on the level of water supply and hot weather conditions in their respective schools to enable the next step to be taken in dealing with the situation, he added.
