Sponsorship from ECM Libra Foundation

UTAR officially received a RM96,000 sponsorship for English, Bahasa Malaysia, and ICT Tuition Programmes from its collaborative partner ECM Libra Foundation at an official launching ceremony held at UTAR Kampar Campus on 9 March 2016.

Prof Chuah (right) receiving the mock cheque from Lim, while Dr Teh looks on

The sponsorship was presented by ECM Libra Foundation Executive Trustee Lim Beng Choon to UTAR President Ir Prof Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik. Also present were UTAR Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations Assoc Prof Dr Teh Chee Seng, UTAR Kampar Campus and Sungai Long Campus Department of Soft Skills Competency (DSSC) Heads Hee Chwen Yee and Fook Oi Yee respectively, Headmasters from selected primary schools in Kampar, Head of New Villages, and UTAR staff and students.

UTAR as a not-for-profit university that was established for the people and by the people strives to provide educational opportunities for deserving students in the country. Education can transform the lives of youths and broaden their horizons to build a brighter and better tomorrow.

In line with the objective to reach the students in rural schools of Malaysia, UTAR collaborated with ECM Libra Foundation to organise a series of comprehensive English, Bahasa Malaysia, and ICT Tuition Programmes for some selected primary schools namely, SRJK (C) Batu 11 and SRJK (C) Batu 9  in Cheras, SJK (C) Sungai Chua, SJK (C) Balakong, SJK (C) Thung Hon, Chenderong in Batu Gajah, SJK (C) Bemban in Batu Gajah, SJK (C) Jeram, SJK (C) Lawan Kuda in Gopeng, and SJK (C) Kampung Timah.

The nine schools were identified from the UTAR New Village Community Project, ascertained by UTAR DSSC as in need of assistance to boost their students’ English and Malay Language proficiency and to intensify their preparations for UPSR and their school final term examinations by the end of this year.

The components of the English and Bahasa Malaysia tuition programmes are two-hour in-class Saturday lessons and motivational workshops. Guided by the instructors from UTAR DSSC, the students will have a whale of a time with mind-drilling language games such as scrabble, charades, station games, wonder words, quizzes, and group projects.

Prof Chuah (left) and Lim delivering their speeches

In his opening speech, Prof Chuah said, “ECM Libra Foundation and UTAR DSSC joint ventures since 2014 have mainly focused on English tuition for primary school students in new villages such as Chenderong, Jeram, Sungai Chua, and others. In the first year of collaboration, more than RM32,000 was funded by ECM Libra Foundation for the English tuition programme for four Chinese primary schools in Cheras and Batu Gajah. Later in 2015, the project expanded to an even larger scale in collaboration with UTAR Faculty of Information and Communication Technology (FICT) for an IT Skills Programme for school children.”

He further added, “Such joint initiatives have resulted in many positive outcomes for the schools and have provided valuable experience for our students involved, especially in the development of the community and the spirit of charity. This year, more of such projects are in the pipeline to benefit more schools and students, especially with the donated fund amounting to more than RM96,000 from ECM Libra Foundation. Besides DSSC and FICT, the Faculty of Arts and Social Science will also participate in such community projects this year.”

In his opening speech, Lim said, “We are happy to note that this year marks the third year of our collaboration with UTAR, since we started in 2014. It is our fervent hope that this tuition programmes will continue to flourish and expand to more and more villages to benefit more children from new village communities. We believe education is not only restricted to the classroom, but it should also include character and leadership development. Hence, the Foundation uses this as a platform to provide poor children with opportunities to develop their confidence and self-awareness through tuition as well as multiple skill-based programmes.”

Seventh from left: Dr Teh, Lim, and Prof Chuah with UTAR management staff, school headmasters, and heads of new villages

UTAR is a collaborative partner of ECM Libra Foundation, which is an independent, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to helping the needy to further their studies. ECM Libra Foundation was incorporated on 30 October 2004 as a charitable organisation with the objective of providing financial assistance for educational purposes for underprivileged Malaysians, irrespective of race, religion, or creed. The foundation was set up with personal donations from its three founding Trustees, namely Dato’ Seri Kalimullah, Lim Kian Onn, and Dato’ David Chuah Ming Huat.