SIMANGGANG: Students in rural areas are urged to compete with their urban counterparts and be on par with them in terms of academic achievements.

Balai Ringin assemblyman Snowdan Lawan said there was no such thing as rural students being unable to do better in their studies because even now there are many individuals in high offices who came from rural setting.

“Although we are rural people, we shouldn’t feel demoralised and think that we can’t succeed like people in the cities,” he said this at SMK Simanggang Excellence Certificate Presentation ceremony last Friday.

He said rural students should discard their low self-esteem and push themselves forward in their studies and their pursuit for excellence.

He called on them to rid themselves of the perception that they were only good for PMR or SPM certificates because if they cared to look around them, there are now so many, who once were strugglers in their rural schools, ‘important’ people in the society.

He said the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) would be opening job opportunities for those who are qualified and as such rural students should prepare themselves from now.

“The government is serious in providing education opportunities as well as assistance to everyone – rural or urban – in order to produce a society that is competitive and highly educated,” he said.

Among those present at the event were SMK Simanggang principal Ibrahim Jamain, Sri Aman Resident Abang Shamshuddin Abang Seruji, Sri Aman Combined Education officer Walter Lamat Kiyai and the PTA deputy chairman Barau Gelayan.