GOPENG: Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah officially opened the Sekolah Berasrama Penuh (SBP) Integrasi Gopeng here, today.
Also present were Raja Permaisuri Perak Tuanku Zara Salim, Raja Muda Perak Raja Jaafar Raja Muda Musa, Raja Puan Besar Perak Raja Nazhatul Shima Sultan Idris Shah and Raja Di-Hilir Perak Raja Iskandar Dzulkarnain Sultan Idris.
Others present were Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad and Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek.
The school was built on a 10.9 hectare plot of located in the Teja sub-district. Construction began on Nov 13, 2000, with a cost of RM30.4 million.
SBP Integrasi Gopeng began administrative operations in Dec 2002 and on Feb 17, 2003, received the first student comprising 89 Form 1 students and 81 Form 4 students, with 10 teachers.
Student enrolment currently numbers 590, with 55 teachers and 16 support staff.
Earlier, Fadhlina, in her speech, said Malaysia is now in an era of change and that challenges would further increase, especially for the education agenda.
She said the emergence of technology is now inevitable as well as various impacts and implications following the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The expanding influence of information and communication technology software and devices (ICT) have changed the landscape of human capital development, especially from the educational aspect that forms the character of the future nation.
"In the context of the ministry, various initiatives have been implemented to prepare children with knowledge that include understanding, skills as well as risks in future education.
"Among them is the launch of the Digital Education Policy (DPD), one of the objectives of which is to produce digitally literate students with integrity and ethics.
"In the context of facing future education, the ministry is actively implementing preparations towards the education reform agenda, driven by six directions.
"They are Digital Education, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Curriculum Empowerment, Technical Education and Training Programmes and Vocational, Strengthening Bahasa Melayu and the English Language, strengthening Preschool Expansion, as well as Educational Plan and Curriculum Intervention Schooling," she said.
Fadhlina said this is being done with the aspiration of building a Madani future generation based on the principles of humane education.
"The task of building a holistically superior future generation is crucial. Education is not like a printing factory but is a humane lifelong learning process," she said.