MAKTAB NASIONAL is a private Catholic mission school established in 1985 as part of St Simon Educational Complex which also consists of a primary school, SRS Datuk Simon Fung and a kindergarten Taska/Tadika Datuk Simon Fung. All three schools are under the same Board of Trustees and Board of Governors. We provide secondary education to Malaysian students as well as International students from the age of 13 to 17 years and we prepare our students for Malaysian public examinations and international examinations. We are located at Kingfisher Park, Kuala Inanam, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in Malaysia.
Board of Governors: Msgr Primus Jouil (chairman), Jason Soon (secretary), Monica Chua (treasurer), Fr Wilfred Atin (chaplain), Felix Poh (member), John Paujik (member), Winnie Voo (member).
Board of Trustees: Abp John Wong (chairman), Felix Poh (secretary), Abp Emeritus John Lee (member), Msgr Primus Jouil (member), Fr Alex Sipanul (member).
History
In 1984 Bishop Simon Fung mooted the idea of a private secondary school to protect the family structure. For up to this time many parents had been sending their children overseas at a very tender age. He and his initial Board hoped that by setting up Maktab Nasional, parents would refrain from sending their children overseas so early in life when the family bonding was extremely important.
In January 1985, Maktab Nasional opened its doors to about sixty students with two Form One classes and one Form Two class. The school was located in Jalan Ramin (the present St Peter’s College Initiation Year Formation House). However, within a short period of time, the school grew so fast that these premises were abandoned for another area at the Likas Expo site. By this time Maktab Nasional had grown not just in student numbers but also in schools. In 1988, a primary school was added – Sekolah Rendah Swasta Datuk Simon Fung – and in 1990 the Tadika and Taska were established.
The schools have a strict policy to keep a small number in each class to allow for maximum teacher-student interaction. The number was set at 25 in all primary and kindergarten classes and 35 for secondary classes. It was decided at the formation of Maktab Nasional that the school would be kept small to allow for a family-like atmosphere to prevail.
At the Likas Expo site, it was becoming clear that the schools needed their own buildings as needs were exceeding the cramped quarters they were housed in. A fire in 1992 which destroyed the administration block, library and many classrooms of the primary school pushed the management to acquire a piece of land in Kingfisher Park, Kuala Inanam. From then on, there was no looking back.
The new school started in February 1994 and completed in November 1994. They moved in to start the new school year on 4 December 1994. In 1995 the management decided to adopt the overall name for the educational site as Kompleks Pendidikan St Simon (St Simon Education Complex).
This complex is the fulfillment of a dream of the Board. The first Principals, Mr John Tham in the secondary school and Mr Mak Goon Wah in the primary school, spent the first 10 years laying the foundations. It is hoped that Catholic parents will continue to support the institution.
P.O.Box 14146, 88847 Kota Kinabalu Sabah.
Tel: +6088-431-687 Fax: +6088-431-686
Email: bluhound@gmail.com / will_bulleye@msn.com
website: http://www.stsimon.edu.my/mn/
SRS Datuk Simon Fung (1988)
Established in 1988, Sekolah Rendah Swasta Simon Fung encourages bilingual literacy in its students (Bahasa Malaysia and English) and also provides a foundation for a third language. Emphasis in placed on learning language through literature. The school also uses projects and multimedia research to develop independent learning.
Kingfisher Park II, Taman Kuala Inanam, Kota Kinabalu Sabah
Tel: +6088-431-680
Fax: +6088-431-676
Email: srsdatuksimonfung@gmail.com