PASIR MAS: Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Meranti, located just three kilometres from the Sungai Golok basin, was among the worst-hit schools in Kelantan during the first wave of floods at the end of November.
The disaster left classrooms submerged and school property extensively damaged.
Principal Mohammad Razuki Derahman said the floods, which struck on Nov 27, caused water levels to rise to 0.9 metres on the ground floor, ruining furniture, desks, chairs, and valuable learning materials.
“The damage was overwhelming. Furniture and equipment in the classrooms were submerged and rendered unusable. To ensure learning continues, I directed all teachers to switch to home-based teaching and learning (PdPR) for our 746 students,” he said when met at the school.
The school is now racing against time to reopen its doors. Face-to-face lessons are expected to resume tomorrow after an intensive cleaning effort.
“Thanks to the unwavering support of volunteers from government agencies, higher education institutions, and NGOs, we’ve been able to make significant progress in restoring the school over the past few days,” Mohammad Razuki said, expressing his gratitude.
Earlier, 120 volunteers from the Ihsan Madani Squad of the Ministry of Higher Education (KPT)-Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), along with teachers and students of SMK Meranti, worked together in a gotong-royong to clean and restore the school.
