SK Sayap Kota Belud scores a first in education-based tourism programme
KOTA BELUD: SK Sayap Kota Belud is the first rural primary school in Malaysia to implement an education-based tourism programme.
SK Sayap which is located 20km from Pekan Kota Belud and situated at a panoramic view of Mount Kinabalu intends to be the hub and pioneer of Edu-Tourism School in Kadamaian as well as in the nation.
Programme coordinator, Boniface Jiran said the school’s Edu-Tourism Kampung Sayap is among the tourism products under the Kampung Sayap Tourism Village Committee which was supported by the school’s Parents and Teacher Association (PIBG) and Kadamaian assemblyman Ewon Benedick.
“Besides the school’s beautiful view of Mount Kinabalu, there are also six education huts where each of the huts has their own unique landscape and there is one upside down hut which features Kadazandusun culture,” he said, adding that since its inception, it has attracted thousands of visitors and tourists.
“For the Kampung Sayap community, SK Sayap edu-tourism through FGHT (Focus Group Hiking Team) has helped a lot especially in developing its own tourism products and packages as well as providing guidance to tour operators to promote their tourism product.
“As a result, Kg Sayap Tourism or better known as Kg Sayap Eco-edu Tourism has grown to the extent of successfully developing almost 38 tourism products comprising services, accommodation, retail, hill-mountain hiking, cave, waterfall, Rafflesia flowers, food, historical sites, and culture and arts,” he added.
He also applauded the State Ministry of Rural Development (KPLB) for bringing in the Rural Tourism Mini Estet Sejahtera (MESEJ) programme and believed that Edu-Tourism in SK Sayap can be developed.
He also stated that the village will also be getting benefits through the positive development of rural tourism industry such as upgrading and building the village roads.
“Besides that, this would also help boost the students’ academic achievement through the implementation of the Edu-Tourism programme.
“We are proud that our students can now read, write, and calculate well after the implementation of the programme. This is because with various visitors from foreign countries such as Japan and England, it has motivated the students to be more confident in speaking English.
The motivation to boost their confidence in speaking English is due to visits from tourists from foreign countries such as Japan and England.
Meanwhile, SK Sayap teacher Kingfier Missin expressed his gratitude to Ewon Benedick, who is also the Minister of Rural Development Sabah for donating a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and a projector to the school as well as RM5,000 cash as a touch point for developing SK Sayap tourism industry.
He explained that the LCD and projector would surely be useful for the 150 students of SK Sayap in their study session.
Speaking at the SK Sayap Kaamatan and Hari Raya celebration, Ewon hoped that the SK Sayap Edu-Tourism programme can be an example to other schools in the state.
“This will be another attraction for Kampung Sayap which is already known as a tourist destination with natural beauties such as the mountain forests and rivers in Kota Belud,” he said.
Source: New Sabah Times
