BANTING: The sincere intention of teachers at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Kanchong Darat here, who organised a programme to address truancy, succeeded in gaining international recognition when the school was listed among the 10 best schools in the world (Top 10 Shortlisted World’s Best School Prizes) in the Supporting Healthy Lives category.
The school’s headmistress Rozanah Abd Razak said she was grateful that the programme, which they worked on for almost four years, to improve attendance at the school, was successful in winning recognition at such a high level.
She said that the ‘Minda Sihat, Masyarakat Sihat’ (Healthy Mind, Sound Community) programme, which obliges every student to participate, covers five aspects; physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual and personality.
“The programme also succeeded in boosting student interest, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, because the teachers saw that they were less motivated to attend classes and were perceived as getting lazier.
“Therefore, we introduced the game of ‘lompat tali’ (jump rope) (as one of the aspects), which became very popular with the students. We also gave them permission for rope skipping during recess and after school, Thankfully, the attendance of the students, like today, has been very encouraging,” she said after the 2023 MADANI Cultural Carnival, in conjunction with the ‘Top 10 World’s Best School Prizes’, at the school today.
She said through the programme, some of the students have managed to get out of the obesity group and subsequently improved their fitness levels.
Apart from SK Kanchong Darat, SK Seri Permai in Bayan Baru of Penang was also listed in the top ten of the world’s best school prizes, for a different category.
The two schools stand a chance to win part of the total prize money of USD250,000 (RM1.16 million), to be shared equally among the five winners, with each receiving USD50,000 (RM231,300).
Meanwhile, a Year Five student of SK Kanchong Darat, Nur Khalisah Mohamad Rafi said the programme motivated her to attend school every day.
“(I’m) excited to come to school; when there is free time the teacher allows us to play (jump rope) with friends. I used to be a very shy person, but after joining this programme I became more sociable,” she said.
A former student, Muhammad Ammar Zaquan Rizal Efendi, 13, said although he no longer attends school there, he still actively engages with the teachers of SK Kanchong Darat in promoting the sport of rope skipping in the Banting area.
“I used to be completely inactive and had no friends in school, even though the school was strong in handball, bowling and athletics, but I never got involved.
“However, when the school made this programme mandatory for all students, I began to realise my interest. Since then, I have become more prominent in school (representing the school in rope jumping), and the students have also started to recognise me,” he said.
In the meantime, Education Minister, Fadhlina Sidek, praised SK Kanchong Darat for successfully reaching that level.
“Winning or losing is not the issue; even though this school is small, they have proven that they can go to the world level. There are no marginalised students who aspire to reach the world level; we will continue to support them,” she said.
She hoped that this programme, aimed at a healthy lifestyle, can be expanded to other schools in the country.
“I emphasised earlier that, apart from the world recognition, we can actually see that there is much more potential present. The impact of this programme includes children’s attendance at school, their personality development, their academic (progress) and certainly also activities aimed at a healthy lifestyle,” she said. – BERNAMA
