We’ll build a dedicated school in the city for them, says Abang Johari
KUCHING: Sarawak will soon have a school for special children in the city.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg revealed this today, saying the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) state government has set up a special unit to carry out a six-month study with a view to building a primary school for special children.
“I have already identified the ideal location for the school. This should make it easier for children with special needs to utilise it.
“We will set up more special schools in other towns such as Miri and Bintulu. They will have educators who have been trained in physiology,” he said after officiating at the opening of Pusat Kebajian Datuk Amar Hajah Juma’ani here yesterday.
“The number of disabled children keeps on increasing in this city including in Miri and Sibu, so we want to help them,” he said adding that the schools will be set up through the Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Ministry.
He said such a school would be greatly beneficial to special children, and in fact could help at least 50 per cent of them to recover some of their faculties.
“Some women got sick during their pregnancies but did not bother to get medical attention. Sometimes they gave birth to sick or disabled babies whose conditions got worse as they grew older,” he said.
It is very important, he said, for the ministry to provide these children with special needs to have their own school.
“Australia is a good example of a country which takes good care of their special children, starting with primary school, to help them overcome various problems,” he said, adding that when these children enter secondary school they would have recovered by 60 or so per cent.
When asked about Barisan Nasional’s Saturday victory in Semenyih by-election, the chief minister responded,”It is better to focus more on the welfare of Sarawakians.”
