School starts mushroom cultivation programme for its special needs students

KAMPAR, Oct 16 — Eighteen-year-old Abdul Muin Rosli used to turn up for school late, prompting his teachers at SMK Sentosa here to joke that Muin keeps to the office hours of 9am to 5pm.

But all this changed after the school started a programme cultivating mushrooms in July for its special needs students.

Since then, Muin, who has been chosen to be one of the students to look after the mushroom blocks, appears at school before the morning bell to keep track of the fungus’ growth.

The teacher-in-charge of the programme, Mohamad Hazwan Mohd Ashri said he got the idea to let the students take care of mushrooms after seeing one of his former schoolmates’ sharing on Facebook early this year.

He proposed the idea to allow the special needs students to learn how to cultivate mushrooms to the school’s senior assistant Zuraidah Ideris, who in turn got the school principal’s green light to go ahead with the project.

Hazwan initially bought 15 blocks of mushrooms before expanding it to 105 blocks.

Since starting the project in July, the students have managed to harvest four times from the 120 blocks with the most recent session on Monday producing the highest production of 10kg.

Hazwan said mushroom cultivation was part of three classes for the students namely gardening, cooking and car wash, to offer skills to special needs students to be employed when they leave school at 19.

“By learning how to cultivate mushrooms, at least they can earn a living after leaving school,” he added.

Buoyed by the success from the current project, the school plans to expand the project next year.

Hazwan said the school plans to buy 500 more blocks and a new mushroom cultivation room is in the works.

“We hope to start production in the first quarter of next year,” he said.

Asked what happens to the mushrooms, Hazwan said some are sold to teachers or nearby residents while some are fried and sold during the school’s recess time.

“Proceeds from the sale are then used to pay the students as their salary for looking after the mushrooms,” he added.

With the long school holiday coming up, Hazwan said he would let the students take the blocks back home to care for.

“It will be their school assignment,” he added.

Asked why he liked to come to school now, Muin said it was exciting to see the mushrooms grow.

“My mother encouraged me to start a mushroom growing business when I leave school next year,” said Muin, who is a slow learner.

Sharing Muin’s sentiment, S. Manimaran, also a slow learner, said he liked to take care of the mushrooms.

“I spray it with water twice a day,” said the 16-year-old, who also aspires to start a business selling mushrooms.

For further details about the school’s mushroom project, contact the school at 05-4671220.

Related Articles ‘Do not fail our children’: Talking about special needs education brings Maszlee to tears Yayasan MRCB donates Braillers and funds repairs worth RM40,000 to special needs school in KL Yayasan Hasanah to train Malaysians to better deal with mental health matters