KUALA LUMPUR, 26 NOVEMBER 2014: The East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC)’s empower ECER Academic Training programme continues to prove its effectiveness in improving the academic achievement of rural students in the East Coast Economic Region (ECER), as reflected in their 2014 Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) results which were announced today.
Out of the 3,204 empower ECER participants from 97 schools in ECER who took the UPSR this year, all of them recorded 100% passes, with 575 pupils scoring 5A’s and above, while another 430 pupils scored 4A’s.
Pahang led the way with 760 students scoring three or more distinctions, followed by Terengganu (405), Kelantan (238) and the district of Mersing in Johor (48). This is a 36% increase compared with the previous year’s results.
empower ECER is one of the human capital initiatives implemented by ECERDC in ECER, which consists of the Academic Training Programme targeted at students who will be taking their UPSR, Pentaksiran Tingkatan Tiga (PT3) and Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations, as well as the Skills and Entrepreneurship Training Programme for single parents, jobless youths and disadvantaged individuals.
The students selected for empower ECER Academic Training programme consist of weak and average students who mostly come from poor families. To create a more level playing field, empower ECER focuses on exposing the participants to a variety of learning experiences. In addition to tuition classes, ECERDC has also introduced self-improvement courses such as “Conceive, Believe & Achieve, the Dale Carnegie Way”, “Mind Mapping, Speed Reading and Creative Note Taking”, “Mind Science” for memory enhancement and “Number Sense” to improve their learning skills.
Chief Executive Officer of ECERDC, YBhg. Dato’ Jebasingam Issace John said the pupils’ achievements can be attributed to the holistic approach of empower ECER, which focuses on building character, confidence and determination among the students, in addition to academic-related guidance. Special programmes were also conducted for their parents to ensure that the students are well-supported at home in order to achieve academic excellence.
“We hope the success of these rural students will continue to inspire them to further excel in their studies as they enroll in secondary school, as it is only through academic excellence that they will be able to build a better future for themselves and their families,” said Dato’ Issace.
Human capital development is vital to support the ongoing socio-economic transformation of ECER, and in this context, empower ECER aims to improve the academic performance of participating students and empower its adult participants with marketable skills which allow them to have better employment and business prospects, Dato’ Issace noted.
This year’s programme includes about 200 Orang Asli UPSR students, mainly from Pahang. The best performer is Salizan a/l Sadan from SK Runchang, Pekan, Pahang who did his community proud by scoring 5 distinctions.
“I come from a kampung school, and I wanted to do well so my family can have a better life in the future,” said Salizan. “I also wanted to set a good example for my siblings. My late father, Sadan a/l Pendek, has passed away and I am now staying with my grandmother and my mother. But this is not an obstacle for me to do well in my studies,” he noted.
Salizan thanked empower ECER for inspiring him to reach for the stars. “I was very nervous about the UPSR examination, but began to gain confidence as my empower ECER tutors kept motivating me. They also taught the class study techniques, memory skills and organised study camps, which helped us a lot,” he added.
In 2014, empower ECER’s Academic Training Programme saw the participation of 9,447 students who were sitting for three national examinations, consisting of 3,204 participants for Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR), 2,712 participants for PT3 and 2,661 participants for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).
empower ECER is currently implemented in 17 locations across ECER, namely Bentong, Temerloh, Lipis, Raub, Cameron Highlands, Maran, Jerantut, Kuala Pahang and Rompin in Pahang; Bachok, Jeli and Ketereh in Kelantan; Kemaman, Dungun, Besut and Hulu Terengganu in Terengganu, as well as Mersing in Johor. empower ECER has so far transformed the lives of some 34,000 ECER locals, comprising nearly 23,000 students and over 11,000 adult participants since the launch of its pilot project in Bentong, Pahang in 2010.
Students have recorded a 100% pass rate, with several scoring outstanding results. For adult participants, it is estimated that up to 80% will gain employment after completing their courses or have sufficient knowledge and practical experience to start their own business, and the ability to generate income of between RM500 and RM1,500 per month, or even more.
