KOTA KINABALU, April 19 — Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Simpangan in Paitan will be moved to a new higher and safer location after it was destroyed in a recent flood, Sabah Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk James Ratib said.

The new site for the school is the Rural Development Cooperative area near Simpangan village, which was proposed by the Simpangan Village Development and Security Committee, he added.

“I also recommended that the original site for the construction of SK Simpangan in Paitan town to be turned into SK Pekan Paitan,” he said in a statement today after visiting the school’s temporary site yesterday.

The proposed relocation of the school will be made through gazettement of the land, which will be submitted to the Sabah Lands and Surveys Department before being brought to the 13th Malaysia Plan stage for further approval, he added.

To ensure that school students’ lessons are not disrupted, the school will be temporarily housed at Dewan Terbuka SMK Simpangan with suitable partitions.

“This is important to ensure students continue to have access to education in a conducive atmosphere while waiting for their new school to be built,” he said.

He also visited SMK Simpangan and was briefed by the state education department on the current developments on education in the area. — Bernama