PETALING JAYA: The fate of the 89-year-old SK Assumption school in Butterworth, Penang, has been sealed, with the Education Ministry deciding to move all students out and handing over the building and land to its new owners in March.
However, The Save Assumption School Joint Taskforce is still refusing to give up.
It is hoping for an extension until March next year, at least.
The mission school, set up in 1933, had been told to vacate the land as soon as possible.
However, the ministry issued a statement yesterday, saying that it has requested for a postponement of the eviction until the end of Term Three of the 2021/2022 academic year in March.
“After that, the pupils and teachers would be moved to other nearby schools,” it said.
The ministry said SK Assumption was a government-aided school that had been operating on the land owned by Syarikat Sri Avenue Sdn Bhd since 2008.
The land has since been sold to a third party.
The ministry added that it made the decision to move the staff and pupils to five other schools located 0.35km to 5.8km away, based on a few reasons.
One reason was the declining enrolment at the school which stands at only 53 pupils now. It added that the move would also mean a more efficient use of manpower with the 15 teachers and two support staff moved to the other schools.
The selected schools are SK Kuala Perai, SK Sungai Nyior, SK St Mark in Butterworth, SK Khir Johari, and SK St Mark in Perai.
Meanwhile, the joint task force’s media liaison Vernon Fernandez said they would use the next two weeks to seek an extension until March next year.
“There should be a better transition for our current students and for the purchase of the private land that the school sits on,” he added.
Fernandez said the parents were unanimous in wanting the school to continue at its current site.
The school’s alumni and parent-teacher association recently discovered that the school’s landowner intends to retake the land.