PERMATANG PAUH: News of Sireh Cafe at SK Pauh Jaya here bagging the “best primary school canteen in the country” title was a long time coming for its pupils and teachers.
Since the eatery went viral earlier this year, the canteen’s cafe-like setting has been praised for its conducive environment.
“Our canteen is not only seen as a place for pupils to eat and relax, but also as a platform for them to build their character,” SK Pauh Jaya headmaster Ramlee Abu Bakar told the New Straits Times.
Ramlee, who joined the school last year, said he came up with ideas on improving the school following his observation of its facilities and pupils.
He said the pupils excelled in their studies and performed well in their co-curricular activities.
“But when it came to the canteen, there had been problems concerning food prices and quality.
“The canteen’s bland environment did not help, which saw the pupils detached from it at recess,” he said, adding that a tender was opened for contractors to renovate it.
He said discussions were held with canteen operator Nadirah Azizan.
“We discussed ways to make the canteen better. I wanted a canteen that has modern design elements and offers quality food.”
He said he wanted to turn it into a place where pupils developed good manners and character.
To do this, he said, the cafe introduced the character-building concept called STEPS, an acronym for sabar (patience), tertib (orderly), prihatin (compromising) and syukur (grateful).
As part of the concept, pupils are required to queue up when they want to buy food.
“They are taught about the hard work that went into their food and to be grateful for it. This is one of the values instilled (in pupils) through STEPS.”
He said labels were placed on the canteen’s floor to guide the pupils on where to queue up.
Since then, he said, they formed lines to buy food and drinks, with separate queues for boys and girls.
“Before this, the canteen was chaotic. There were pupils running around.
“The system was disorganised. I told myself that I needed to put an end to it.”
He said with the canteen renovated, the next step was to get pupils to look after it.
For this, teachers were initially despatched to monitor them and answer their questions.
The children were later taught to clean up the area after eating.
“We have plans to install more hand basins to meet this goal.”
The school introduced a nutritious food tray with drinks called “Hits Box Pauh Jaya”, which was priced at RM3.
He said this would reduce the parents’ financial burden.
Ramlee said the food programme was open to all pupils and that 360 schoolchildren benefited from it.
Those who opted for the programme formed a separate line where they were required to go through a thumbprint scanner before taking the meal.
Parents who signed up for the programme made payment directly to the canteen operator every month, he said.
“The menu follows the Health Department’s dietary recommendations,” said Ramlee.
Pupils said they were happy with the canteen and its food.
Noor Aira Aleesya Marwizan, 11, said the old canteen was “boring”.
“We look forward to recess so that we can be with our friends at the renovated canteen.”
Her friend, Muhammad Amirul Arfan Mohd Azhar, said he loved the wide variety of food sold there, such as spaghetti.
He said pupils could now get their food in an orderly manner.
“The prices are reasonable and pupils no longer push each other to get them.
“The facility is clean and comfortable.”