EDUCATION is always key to transforming lives, but not all are fortunate to have access when it comes to infrastructure or digital learning platforms.
This has always been an issue for students from the B40 group and those living in rural areas where they have limited reach to such facilities.
For Year Four to Form Five students in rural communities, eKelas is a Maxis flagship community programme – an after-school digital learning initiative that provides access to quality education content in line with the Malaysian school syllabus.
eKelas focuses on core subjects – Mathematics, English and Science (for Year Four to Form Five) and Bahasa Melayu and Sejarah (Forms Four and Five) – in addition to STEM and soft skills content.
Via the eKelas app and portal, students are exposed to fun experiential learning through a combination of live tutorials, group learning, competitions as well as access to curated digital content.
Since its launch in November 2016, eKelas has seen strong growth, with the programme implemented at 118 Malaysian Family Digital Economy Centres (PEDi) under Maxis care nationwide, connecting more than 54,000 students and expanded to over 1,050 schools.
SMK Taman Scientex faculty and Maxis' mSquad volunteers taking one for the album during a roadshow to launch the eKelas HIP English StoryFest Competition.
Among the students who has benefited from eKelas is Hamizan Mazlan, a former Form Five student from SMK(A) Dato’ Ismail, Kelantan.
“eKelas really helped me in my studies as a rural student. There are many notes and learning videos for subjects such as English, Mathematics and Science, guided by very experienced teachers.
“Thanks to eKelas, I could reduce the cost and time to buy notebooks. Apart from notes and videos that can be accessed anytime and anywhere, interesting programmes such as the eKelas HIP English learning programmes, quizzes from the app community manager Abang Portal and live tutorial sessions are also available,” she said.
For Dayangku Siti Nur Khairunnisa Awang Hamdany from SMK Bukit Assek, Sibu, who was one of the winners of the eKelas Bijak Siber Dengan Geng Gajet contest 2021, what sparked her interest to learn from eKelas is the interesting programmes available.
“eKelas has really helped me in my studies. I enjoy answering quizzes from Abang Portal during my free time and the comprehensive notes helped me understand the subjects better,” she said.
Students at SMK Taman Scientex in Pasir Gudang, Johor Baru, registering on Maxis eKelas portal.
Today, eKelas provides a complete digital learning experience, including opportunities for students to take part in campaigns like STEM competitions for coding, creative and designing thinking skills, essay writing competitions and Anugerah Gemilang.
English essay and storytelling
One highly-anticipated programme is the Maxis eKelas English writing and storytelling competition.
Back in its fourth year, the Maxis eKelas HIP English Storyfest Competition aims to inspire and improve the English proficiency of Year Four to Form Five students nationwide.
“We are proud to see an increasing number of students participating in the competition every year, with more than 3,500 last year alone,” said Maxis chief corporate affairs officer Mariam Bevi Batcha.
“We will continue to bring the best digital content to students, especially from rural communities, and hope to see more of them in this year’s competition.”
Students who are interested in taking part in the competition can sign up here.
They can watch tutorial videos on the portal, which guide students on how to write a good essay as well as provide tips to sharpen their English-speaking skills.
Once they have completed the tutorial videos, they can submit their entries for the competition.
For the essay writing category, students can write on any topic of their choice.
As for the storytelling category, students can record themselves telling a story, reciting poetry or reading a speech from a provided script.
“We welcome this initiative from Maxis through its eKelas programme in support of the Education Ministry’s Highly Immersive Programme,” said Education Ministry sports, co-curricular and arts division chief assistant director Dr Faizulizami Osmin.
“It gives students a different platform beyond the school environment to practise communicating in English, especially when they can interact with students from other schools. I encourage teachers to motivate their students to participate in the competition and benefit from the learning opportunities provided.”
Tricia Lim Chuk Pin who teaches at SMK Bukit Gading in Sungai Buloh, Selangor, is a huge fan of the competition.
“With eKelas, my students are not only able to discover their talents, but two of them actually won the competition.
“They did the tasks on their own and I am very proud of their achievement because they followed the guidelines, and learned from the modules, videos and tips that were provided via eKelas for the competition,” she shared.
For more information on eKelas and to register for HIP English StoryFest Competition 2022, click here.
