SANDAKAN: Norshakinah Mohd Jaidin, seven, cried all the way to school yesterday. The tears did not stop flowing as the Year One pupil accompanied her mother, Dayang Salmah Ankuk, 37, on the 20-minute ride by boat from her village in Pulau Berhala to this town.
Dayang Salmah’s insistence that she will remain at Sekolah Kebangsaan Tanjung Papat 1 for the whole day yesterday did not help either.
“I will be at her school from noon until 5 pm when school closes. I will be here daily until my daughter gets used to attending school by herself,” the mother told Bernama at the Sandakan Market jetty here.
Dayang Salmah said a return ticket on the boat cost RM5 for an adult and RM1 for children and the bus fare from the jetty to the school was 80 sen for an adult and 50 sen for children.
Meanwhile, asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, Norshakinah, her eyes filling with tears, just said: “I am going to Year One.”
Another Year One pupil, Majikri Majibri, seven, who is also from Pulau Berhala, drew attention when he was seen donning his school uniform at the jetty.
His mother, Rosmawati Iri, 25, said she made him wear ordinary clothes from the journey from the house to the school as she did not want him to dirty the school uniform along the way.- Bernama
