ESTABLISHMENT HISTORY OF SEKOLAH KEBANGSAAN SENIBONG, BAU
1960
SENIBONG NIGHT CLASS SCHOOL
The founder, Mr. Mirid ak Asek decided to open the night class because he was inspired by Mr Robert Giom (Pi Riter), who started Sudoh Night Class School. There were many young children in Kampung Senibong who did not go to school. He strongly felt that they should be given the opportunity to learn like othe children from nearby villagers, like Kampung Sudoh. Therefore, he took the initiative to conduct a meeting with the local community to get their consent to start the school. After the meeting, the committee did a survey. The outcome indicated twenty-one (21) families agreed with the idea, though there were three (3) who disagreed. The committee then, mobilized the community to build a 18’ x 12’ shed made of sago leaves (atap) that served as the classroom.
Mr Frankie Baot (Pi Carol) was hired the teacher and paid him $80 per month from government grant. The class started with 20 students (aged 7-12) registered for the class.
However, after four or five years only (for both Sudoh Village and Senibong Village), the school was forced to close down due to the lack of fund.
1961
ESTABLISHMENT OF SENIBONG DAY SCHOOL
Rational
Mr Mirid ak Asek was disappointed that the children were without school again. Those who wished to continue decided to go to St. John School, which was very far away from Senibong village. They had to walk through the jungle footpath for 2 hours to reach the school. They started their journey from home at 5.30 a.m. every morning. Fearing for their safety and thehardship they faced, he requested a representative of the Kampung Tanjung Village Committee, Mr Suriang @ Pi Juting to apply for the establishment of Senibong School from the Bau Education District. However, he rejected the idea as he thought the village was small in population and might not be approved by the then government.
Taking matters into his own hands, Mr Mirid ak Asek decided to map out schools in Singai based on the 7 villages originally from Mount Singai and marked all kampong with schools in red ink and it was proven that Kampung Senibong was the only one without schools
Planning
Being illiterate, Mr Mirid ak Asek engaged Mr Remigius ak Rukong to help him out. Both of them worked out the plan and wrote a letter to be presented to Mr Peter Liew, the officer of education in charged at Bau District Office.
According to Mr Mirid ak Asek, when the letter was done, he quickly cycled to Bau via Buso road to submit the letter to Mr Peter Liew. He seriously said he even left his wife, Many ak Ngati to collect latex by herself that he had tapped early in the morning.
Mr Peter Liew agreed provided he could get written petition from all parents (of Kampung Senibong) with children aged 1 month to 10 years old, at the least 100 signatures. Then, a school can be opened. He quickly moved into action, did as instructed.
However, there were only 85 signatures collected. To meet the number required, Mr Mirid ak Asek and Mr Remigius anak Rukong decided to meet the Chinese community living within the vicinity, to see if they were interested to join in the petition. With their efforts, they managed to convince the community and garnered 127 signatures.
Once again, he once again cycled to Bau District Office to hand over the petitions. A week later, a letter deliveryman, named Encik Moss came to hand Mr Mirid anak Asek the approval letter to start Senibong Day School.
Implementation
Mr. Mirid immediately met with Kampung Senibong villagers to form a committee to start building the school. The committee members were as the followings;
Chairperson : Mr. Mirid anak Asek @ Pi Riba
Deputy : Mr Rumet anak Manjon @ Pi Migen
Secretary : Mr. Suriang anak Ngirin @ Pi Juting
Treasurer : Mr. Gunjem anak Nyagu @ Pi Tomik
Members : Mr. Remigius anak Rukang @ Pi Omm
Mr Newrin anak Bius @ Pi Bek
Mr Juran anak Rogos @ Pi Sari
Mr Muyia anak Raka @ Pi Maon
The school was built on a piece of land (4.1 acres) donated by Mr Rasap ak Neip. The size of the school is 30’x20’ with three classrooms. It was made of attap roof, bamboo and sago walls, and the poles were made of parai/thorny palm trunk.
Commencement of Teaching & Learning
The first class started in 1st January 1968 with 32 pupils of ages ranged from 7 to 11 years old. Mr Sylvester Bungas was the first appointed teacher to start the teaching and learning process. In 1970 the second class opened with 26 pupils (7-8 years old) registered. Another teacher, Mr. Opoum was appointed.
Later, as the number of enrollment increased, Mr Sylvester Bungas was appointed as the headmaster in 1976. Due to the small number of enrollment, the school intake was done by alternate year. However, beginning 1990, the school was allowed to operate from Year 1 –Year 6.
Current Sekolah Kebangsaan Senibong
The school is currently led by Headmaster Mr. Edward Anak Renang and has 13 teachers and 96 students. Over the years, the school’s facilities have improved, now featuring three building blocks that accommodate a total of seven classrooms.