CYBERJAYA: Students of Sekolah Seri Puteri (SSP) will be getting a clean new ride for their school outings when the new term reopens next year.
The handover of a 44-seater school bus from its alumni PUTERI to the boarding school recently will replace the current one that has been in use since 2002.
PUTERI president Mastura Ma’sud said the fundraising project initiated early last year was one of the activities to commemorate the school’s 50th anniversary.
“The current school bus is a second hand vehicle first used for the Commonwealth Games in 1998 which means it is about 21 years old. The bus safety standard is only 15 years, so it is no surprise that the school bus breaks down so often that it can no longer serve its purpose effectively.
“With the safety of students and teachers as main priority, we thought it was only fitting to help the school by buying a new bus as part of the golden jubilee celebration,” she added.
The alumni committee had a target of RM500, 000 to ensure adequate funding for the new bus.
“Since the school is 50 years old, there are also a total of 50 batches altogether. What we did was to get each batch to raise RM10, 000 so that we can reach the target.
Mastura said that a few batches exceeded the RM10, 000 target and this was useful as the excess collection made up for the shortage among the younger batches.
SSP principal Roslina Ahmad said with the old bus requiring maintenance so often resulting in cost that is not economical anymore, a new bus is most appropriate now than ever.
“As a boarding school with a total of 850 students and many activities happening outside the school every weekend, the new school bus is a welcoming gift. The gift would not only be a way of connecting with the alumni but also motivates the students to be more active.
She said community involvement is also highly lauded in encouraging excellence which is an important component of a boarding school.
In return, she added that the alumni’s involvement can support the school to be number one in the country, moving towards excellence globally and raising the image of Malaysia as a country.
She noted that the challenge for the school now is in the maintenance of the bus but confident that the Education Ministry will assist the school.
With many events increasing tremendously for students to participate outside the school, Mastura hopes the new bus will bring the school to a greater height and continue the school’s journey towards excellence.
“The new bus will allow transporting students to participate in more sports tournaments and other competitions. We hope the gift of bus plays a part to strengthen their competitiveness which would be a pathway to become successful leaders in the country.
SSP Parent Teacher Association chairman Hasnal Hasim expressed his appreciation to PUTERI for achieving the target amount to purchase a school bus for the school.
“This is a noble act to repay good deeds to the alma mater. May it be an exemplary act to be followed by other school alumni,” he said.