THE Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih (SBJK) programme is not meant to be confined to its own school.
The school can also be established within the grounds of current schools such as in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
The model in Sabah was established after an engagement session with the state’s education department (JPN) identified eight Malaysian children who had dropped out of the mainstream school system due to factors such as poverty and vulnerable families.
These children attended the Children’s Activity Centre under the supervision of the General Sabah Social Welfare Department to learn the basic concepts of reading, writing and counting (3Ms).
They were then enrolled in SK Sembulan, Kota Kinabalu, which was chosen to be the location for the SBJK programme as the school had 10 cabins that had been unused since 2017, and was located near the homes of the eight children.
Children in Sabah who have been identified for the SBJK programme will be registered in schools that implement the programme, and are eligible to receive the Supplementary Food Plan (RMT), the Per Capita Grant Assistance (PCG) and the Early School Assistance (BAP)
As for transport arrangements, the students are either sent and picked up by their families, or by a vehicle provided by JPN Sabah.
Students in the programme are placed in classes based on their mastery of the 3Ms.
The SBJK programme in Kota Kinabalu implements teaching and learning (PdP) and co-curriculum just like other SBJK modules, according to the needs and suitability of the students.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the programme is necessary to ensure that children in the areas surrounding and in Kota Kinabalu obtain basic primary and lower secondary education.
“The programme can be implemented within schools where there is a need, taking into account the appropriateness of the student criteria that have been set,” she said, adding that this is an initiative to deal with the issue of student dropouts.
“This can improve the standard of living and reduce the economic gap between the rural and urban population,” she added.
The programme is in line with the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2015, as well as Unesco’s Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aims to ensure quality and equitable inclusive education is provided and to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
“This goal ensures that all students complete primary and secondary schooling by 2030,” she said.
Students in SBJK comprise the following groups:
> children who are long-term dropouts from hardcore poor families;
> children without identity documents, such as birth certificates and identity cards;
> street and marginalised children; and
> orphans living in welfare centres which are registered with the Welfare Department.
