SK Kanchong Darat Makes it to Top 10 Best Schools Due to Unique Initiative

BY: Michelle Liew

The genuine intention of the teachers at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Kanchong Darat, Banting in holding a program to attract students to attend school has succeeded in gaining international recognition as the school is now listed among the 10 best schools in the world in the 'Supporting Healthy Lives Category' category.

School Headmistress of SK Kanchong Darat, Rozanah Abd Razak said she was grateful that the program, which started about four years ago, has improved the level of attendance of the students. Due to its success, the school has gained proper recognition.

She stated the 'Minda Sihat, Warga Sihat' (Great Mind, Healthy Citizen) program, which is compulsory for every student to participate in, covers five aspects, namely physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual and personality.

"This program has succeeded in helping to raise the spirits of the students, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, because the teachers saw that they were less motivated to come to school, and they were seen to be getting lazier.”

"Therefore, we created a 'jump rope' game (one of the aspects) which was seen to be very popular among the students. We also gave them permission to play jump rope during break time and this has boosted student attendance," she said after the 2023 MADANI Unity Carnival in conjunction with the 'Top 10 World's Best School Prizes' at the school.

Through this program, students have also improved their health, and some have tackled obesity.

Standard Five student of SK Kanchong Darat, Nur Khalisah Mohamad Rafi stated the program made her very excited to come to school every day.

"It's fun to go to school, when we have free time, the teachers allow us to play (jump rope) with our friends. I used to be a very shy person, but after participating in this school program, I feel better," she said.

Former student Muhammad Ammar Zaquan Rizal Efendi, 13, said that although he no longer attends school there, he still keeps in touch with the teachers.

"Before, I wasn't active at all and had no friends at school However, when the school made this program mandatory for all students, I began to realise my interest. From then on, I became more prominent at school (representing the school in rope jumping) and the students also began to recognise me," he said.

In the meantime, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek praised SK Kanchong Darat for successfully gaining recognition. She hopes that similar programs can be carried out in other schools.