Teachers and Students Honoured Under YTL's Sentul Community Building Program At Awards Ceremony
Kuala Lumpur, 23 May, 2017
Since 2008, Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd (SRSB), Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) have forged a strong partnership to promote an educational enrichment CSR initiative in Sentul. This collaboration received recognition as an excellent Blue Ocean Strategy synergy between public and private sector.
The English@CLiC program, which supports the principles of the National Education Blueprint 2013-2025 as it integrates IT into teaching, was launched in 2015 with the main objective being to improve the command of English via 21st century learning and teaching methods involving 112 teachers from the area. The programme also strenghtened the use of Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in the teaching of English. This would impact schools with over 20,000 students and 5,700 urban underprivileged families to eventually benefit from the program in Sentul.
The bigger vision is to enhance the employment opportunity of the younger generation of underprivileged communities in Sentul and to uplift the socio-economic status of the Sentul community.
English@CLiC then embarked on the MyCommunity Project, a competition among schools. Teams worked on community projects focusing on the United Nations 17 sustainable development goals in efforts to transform the world, a global initiative supported by the Department of Environment (DOE). Among the themes highlighted by the schools were quality education, climate change, sustainable cities and communities, and no poverty.
The programme culminated in a festive award ceremony where Executive Director of Planning, DBKL, Datuk Haji Mohd Najib Haji Mohd handed out prizes to schools, teachers, and students who performed best throughout the programme. The grand prizes were two Frog Classroom makeovers worth RM100,000 each, sponsored by YTL Foundation. One was won by SK Batu Muda, in the Primary School category, with their project 'HOT TROPIC' encouraging awareness on climate change and natural disasters. For the Secondary School category, SMK Sentul Utama's winning entry was Jolly Cupcakes, with the aim to boost confidence among students to be able to speak and communicate in English better. The runner-ups and winners of the Best Teacher awards were presented with cash prizes, and participating schools were honoured with a Certificate of Participation.
In his speech, Datuk Haji Mohd Najib emphasized the relevance of the competition in enriching lives and community building. "It is admirable that Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd and its partners embarked on the English@CLiC program to improve the command of English among the schools in Sentul besides enhancing community living and its sustainability. Through the MyCommunity Project, our youth will be able to develop new ideas beyond the classroom, and to eventually transfer knowledge from research into practical application in meeting specific world sustainable development goals," he shared.
The MyCommunity Project competition attracted participation from 22 primary schools and 11 secondary schools around Sentul. It provided a project-based learning approach which involved participating teachers and students working on practical solutions to problems faced by the local community in line with the sustainable development goals.
SRSB's first CSR education enrichment initiative in 2008 was through the Bintang Cemerlang program. The program nurtured students in a holistic manner which included academics, sports, arts, and sustainability which impacted more than 80,000 students and 4,000 teachers over the last nine years. In 2014, SRSB invested in the multi-media leaning centre CLiC at the Sentul Mini UTC. The centre focused on creative learning as well as e-learning, and was aimed at providing a level playing ground for the Sentul community in an effort fo bridge the digital divide among underprivileged and urban school children.
Among the VIPs who attented the award ceremony were Datin Kathleen Chew, Programme Director YTL Foundation, Dato' Hamidah Maktar, Executive Director Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd, Dato' Hajah Foziah Buang, Director JPWPKL, Suleiman Mohamed, Director of Planning DBKL, Tuan Haji Juahir Mundakir, Assistan Director PPD Sentul, school principles, teachers, and other invited guests.
Back