Almost two years on, the Save Our School (SOS) committee is still unrelenting in its fight to reopen the original SJK (C) Damansara and is now planning a national publicity and public donation drive.

To be launched in January, the two-prong campaign aims to get at least RM1 from every Malaysian to help pay for the maintenance of the temporary school sited next to the original building, said SOS committee secretary Tommy Chin.

The committee managed to raise RM100,000 for the temporary school's expenses through a fund-raising dinner in June held in conjunction with the 500th day commemoration of the closure of the school. But at a burn rate of RM20,000 a month, the amount is only enough till the end of this year.

The money is needed to pay for the rental of containers which house some 60 students, as well as electricity and water, teachers' salaries, food for students, field trips and loan for books.

Grassroots support

"Besides getting funds to pay for the school expenses, it is important to keep alive public support on the Damansara school issue," Chin said of the campaign in an interview with malaysiakini today.

"After the school was shut down, at first we wrote numerous letters to the authorities appealing for it to be reopened. But despite many such attempts, they weren't effective. So we need to organise a campaign which goes down to the grassroots," he added.

Since last year, the committee obtained more than 150,000 signatures for a petition to reopen the school.

The school was shut down by the Education Ministry for allegedly "not providing a conducive learning environment" and its pupils were told to relocate to a new building at Tropicana, a few kilometres away.

Parents, civil society groups and mostly opposition politicians protested the closure of the fully equipped and functional school as unwarranted, particularly since Chinese primary schools were short in supply.

Some 70 pupils of protesting parents stayed put and have been attending school in containers placed in the grounds of the neighbouring temple.

The temporary school now has 60 students and 13 teachers. Most of the teachers are fresh graduates supportive of the committee.

Drop

On the drop in enrolment from the original 74, the school headmaster Ong See Yong said when met that it was due to inevitable reasons, such as parents moving away from the residential area.

However, he admitted that some parents took their children out to place them in "a better learning environment".

Still, "most of them understand the situation we are facing and support us. This is why we still have new students registered for next year," he said, adding that an Indian Malaysian father has approached him recently to send his two children to the school next year.

He said the teaching method in the temporary school focuses on counseling and 'theme learning', which is different from that of the present education curriculum.

Ong cited as an example, when taught about 'fire', the children will embark on a field trip with their teacher to a Fire and Rescue station.

"It incorporates theory and practical. It is an effective teaching method. Our students' results improved a lot and parents are happy with it," he said.

Meanwhile, nine Year Six pupils will be graduating from the school on Nov 3, the second graduation ceremony witnessed by the school since the closure of the original building.