The Ministry of Education plans to upgrade five to seven K9 schools to K11 status next year, expanding a model that keeps rural students in one institution from Year 1 to Form 5.
BENTONG: The Ministry of Education (MOE) is targeting the upgrading of between five and seven schools under the Comprehensive Special Model School 9 (K9) category to Comprehensive Special Model School 11 (K11) next year.
Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said that there are currently nine K11 schools and 26 K9 schools nationwide.
“This year alone, four more K9 schools have been upgraded to K11, namely Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Pulau Beluru in Kelantan, SK Satak in Pahang, SK Jernang in Perak and SK Datuk Undang Abdullah in Negeri Sembilan,” he said after officiating the Sekolah Angkat MADANI programme at SK Sungai Kemahal here today.
Wong said the K11 school concept enables students, particularly those in rural areas including Orang Asli communities, to remain at the same institution from Year One to Form Five, thereby helping to reduce the school dropout rate.
On the Sekolah Angkat MADANI initiative, he said a total of 921 projects were implemented nationwide last year, including 68 in Pahang.
“This year, we are targeting the implementation of 1,500 Sekolah Angkat MADANI projects in 1,500 schools nationwide, with school selection now in the final stages and projects to be implemented in phases,” he said.
Commenting on the Sekolah Angkat MADANI project at SK Sungai Kemahal, Wong said several facilities had been completed, including the construction of a softball court and the upgrading of the computer laboratory, as well as the repair of damaged gates carried out in collaboration with Genting Malaysia Berhad.
In the meantime, he expressed his appreciation to Genting Malaysia Berhad for its contributions to school development through corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, which included RM100,000 for SK Sungai Kemahal and RM118,000 for Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Sungai Sertik in Karak.
