New desks, books bring relief to Labasa school

Students at Vunimoli Islamia School in Labasa now have more space to learn and new books to explore after a $5,000 donation from the JP Bayly Trust.

The rural school, which had been struggling with limited desks, chairs and reading materials, received 30 desks, 30 chairs and a set of library books during a handover today.

For many students, the new resources were a welcome change — offering both comfort in the classroom and fresh stories to discover.

School manager Mohammed Sarif said the shortage of furniture and books had been a challenge.

He said the donation would improve learning, especially with new additions to the library to boost literacy.

Books, he said, made a difference, and students would now be more encouraged to visit the library.

“We made this request in short time and Mr Chand was prompt in his response to help the school,” he said.

With a roll of about 200 students from Years 1 to 8, including a pre-school centre, the school hopes to continue improving academically.

JP Bayly Trust Labasa branch president Satishwar Chand said the donation would help ease overcrowding in classrooms.

He said NGOs had a role to play in supporting schools.

“I believe not everything related to education assistance can be provided by Government, so NGOs need to step up and assist schools,” he said.

He added that seeing the smiles on students motivated them to continue such support.

Head of School Pratosh Kumar said the assistance would help improve students’ performance.

He said with better resources, students could compete academically with those in well-resourced urban schools.

Future plans

The school is now looking ahead, with plans to build a girls’ washroom and toilet facility, estimated at $40,000, to improve hygiene standards.

There are also plans to upgrade the school grounds and build a seating pavilion to host inter-school sports competitions — a project estimated at $100,000.

Mr Sarif is calling on Government and organisations to assist with funding. He can be contacted on 9955421.