4/19/2014 — http://www.bernama.com/bernama
KEMAMAN, TERENGGANU- 19 APRIL 2014: The East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC) today organised a special ceremony known as “Juara empower ECER” to recognise the achievement of 162 empower ECER Kemaman Academic Training programme participants who scored 5A’s and above in the 2013 national examinations.
The top scorers, consisting of 38 Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) pupils, 81 Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) students and 43 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) students received their Certificates of Achievement from the Guest of Honor, Terengganu state executive committee member, YB Ir. Rosli Bin Othman.
empower ECER is ECERDC’s flagship human capital development programme which addresses the needs of disadvantaged rural communities, with the goal of ensuring that no one is left behind in the socio-economic transformation that is sweeping across the East Coast Economic Region (ECER).
The outstanding participants for last year’s UPSR include students from SK Kg. Baru Kerteh (19 students), SK Ayer Puteh (8 students), SK Lembah Jabor (5 students), SK Chukai (4 students), and SK Kijal (1 student) and SJK (C) Kuala Kemanan (1 student). For PMR, the top scorers were from SMK Chukai (28 students), SMK Badrul Alam Shah (26 students), SMK Kijal (18 students) and SMK Ayer Puteh (9 students). For SPM, the top scorers came from SMK Chukai (21 students), SMK Badrul Alam Shah (14 students) and SMK Kijal (8 students).
Similar events were held earlier in Dungun, Jeli in Pahang, Mersing in Johor as well as Raub and Kuala Pahang in Pahang to celebrate and recognize the achievements of empower ECER Academic Training Programme participants within the Region. empower ECER is ECERDC’s flagship human capital development programme which addresses the needs of disadvantaged rural communities, with the goal of ensuring that no one is left behind in the socio-economic transformation that is sweeping across ECER.
“Terengganu has produced an outstanding number of Juara empower ECER in 2013, whereby our programme in Dungun has produced 100 Juara empower ECER top achievers from its first batch, in addition to 162 Juara empower ECER in Kemaman. This augurs well for the state as these youths are the future talent of Terengganu that is currently experiencing rapid growth,” said ECERDC Chief Executive Officer, YBhg. Dato’ Jebasingam Issace John
“These students are outstanding examples of youths who can rise above difficult circumstances to excel and shine when provided with the right guidance and motivation,” he added.
In 2013, empower ECER Academic Training programme in Terengganu saw the participation of 800 students sitting for three national examinations, consisting of 320 participants for UPSR, 240 participants for PMR and 240 participants for SPM.
empower ECER is a holistic programme that combines remedial classes with confidence building. To create a more level playing field, empower ECER focuses on exposing the participants to a variety of learning experiences.
empower ECER was implemented in Terengganu beginning with Kemaman in 2011, and expanded to Dungun in 2013 and Hulu Terengganu and Besut in 2014. To date, a total of 3,200 students in Terengganu have attended empower ECER Academic Training Program that focuses on improving the grades of poor and mediocre UPSR, PMR and SPM students.
Overall, empower ECER has a record of delivering 100% passes among students. The program is conducted in 17 locations across ECER namely, Jeli, Bachok and Ketereh in Kelantan; Kemaman, Dungun, Hulu Terengganu and Besut in Terengganu; Bentong, Temerloh, Raub, Lipis, Cameron Highlands, Kuala Pahang, Jerantut and Maran in Pahang; and Mersing in Johor.
empower ECER is a twin-pronged human capital development initiative launched by ECERDC in 2010 to help reduce economic disparities between rural and urban communities. It consists of the Academic Training programme and Skills and Entrepreneurship Programme. The latter focuses on vocational training for single mothers, jobless youths and disadvantaged individuals.
To date, the program has benefitted 34,113 participants across ECER, comprising 22,938 students and 11,175 adults. For adult participants, it is estimated that up to 80% of participants 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.
