Pupils of Sarawak Jungle School

Feb. 25 Drooping; Bejewelled Earlobes And An Ex-Pupil At Ohio State University: That's Sarawak's Jungle School. A small girl sits demurely at her desk, her exercise book before her, hands in her lap, eyes fixed on her teacher, just like any other good pupil. but she has a beaded crown on her head, and her little ears are weighed down, drooping, decorated by a cluster of glittering heavy rings. And the classroom walls are bamboo, the windows air. She is learning English in the jungle school in Barrio, the Kelabit Higher Primary School which serves 2, 000 square miles of Sarawaka and has 297 pupils. Most of the pupils are Kelabit like this little girl - some of them wear tribal dress, some European. A few are Murat, Sabao, Lepoke or Penon and lessons are in Malay, English and Kelabit. Surrounded by a tangled jungle, it would be dificult for most of these children who live in outlying parts of the country to get to school every day, so there are 171 boarders many of whom have to trek for days through the undergrowth to reach the school when term begins. Food is subsidised for the boarders by the government which pays 10/-a month towards their keep. Kelabit School was started in 1962 by a Mr. W.M. Tonybee, a Canadian who is its present Headmaster. Seventy-four of its ex-pupils are now attending secondary schools in Marudi and Miri, and one lad (a triumph) is at Ohio State University. The school is sponsored by the Columbo Plan Countries. It is part of the drive to bring western education to the inaccessible quarters of the world. Photo shows pupils at work and play during an ordinary day. Kelabit Tribesmen helping in and around the position at Bario, a few miles from the Indonesian border, wear European hats and shirts, and according to the ancient tribal customs, adorn their ears with heavy rings

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