PEKAN, November 23 :The East Coast Economic Region (ECER)’s Sinar ECER and empower Mahkota Kuala Pahang programmes for rural children in the Region have already proven its results, with 20 of its participants scoring 4A’s and above in the 2012 Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examination.
Of the 20 pupils, 8 succeeded in scoring 5A’s, while another 12 managed to obtain 4A’s. In recognition of their achievement, the East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC) feted the top scorers at a special ceremony held at Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) in Gambang here today.
The State Legislative Assembly Member for Bebar, YB Dato’ Haji Ishak Bin Haji Muhammad, who is also the Chairman of the Pahang State Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development, was present to hand over the awards and certificates to the successful pupils.
Sinar ECER and empower Mahkota Kuala Pahang are part of the human capital initiatives undertaken by ECERDC, whereby they were mainly aimed at underprivileged and underperforming students in the Region. The programmes consist of tuition classes, motivational training and outreach activities to help the participants achieve academic excellence, while enriching them with new knowledge and living skills.
It is also aimed at developing positive mind-set, character-building and spiritual elements, as well as providing them with better education opportunities.
Chief Executive Officer of ECERDC, Dato’ Jebasingam Issace John said, the academic performance of the participants has shown encouraging improvement since their participation in Sinar ECER and empower Mahkota Kuala Pahang beginning early this year.
“We hope the success of these pupils will inspire them to further excel in their studies as they enter secondary school. It is only through academic excellence that these rural students will be able to empower themselves and build a better future ahead,” Dato’ Issace said.
“This is in line with the Government’s aspiration to narrow the economic gap between urban and rural areas, in line with the New Economic Model,” he added.
Sinar ECER programme is targeted at underprivileged children from the participating families of ECER’s Agropolitan projects. In 2012, 52 Year 6 students from Pekan Agropolitan were involved in the programme.
The Pekan Agropolitan project is currently being implemented in Runchang and Batu 8, Lepar. Sinar ECER programme presently involves Sekolah Kebangsaan Runchang and Sekolah Kebangsaan Lepar and is being undertaken via ECERDC’s collaboration with UMP.
Meanwhile, empower Mahkota Kuala Pahang involves 95 students from two local primary schools namely, Sekolah Kebangsaan Indera Syahbandar and Sekolah Kebangsaan Serandu.