Maintaining student size in local Penang schools have been challenging – this is true even for SJK Eng Chuan, a 100-year-old homegrown primary school. Lacking adequate teaching materials, the school’s education quality becomes compromised. In an effort to increase education quality in smaller primary schools, Epson sponsored RM40,000 worth of products, including interactive projectors and printers, to SJK Eng Chuan to promote sustainable, interactive teaching modules in school.
To address student size shrinkage, the Ministry of Education Northern Division has also enforced various initiatives, such as school vouchers giveaways and breakfast program, to encourage more parents to send their kids to local primary schools. On top of that, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) adoption is also a key to increase education quality and promote parent’s confidence. The sponsorship handover ceremony at SJK Eng Chuan was graced with the presence of YAB Chow Kon Yeow, Chief Minister of Penang. Other guests include headmasters of all primary schools in Penang and members of the Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
The initiative was driven by Epson’s Management Philosophy which includes key corporate social responsibility theme, a materiality matrix that identifies important initiatives to resolve social issues. One of which it identified was the shrinkage in student size at local schools due to parents concern on education quality.
Daisuke Hori, Managing Director, Epson Malaysia, said: “We want to continue our spirit of giving in education, especially to local schools in need. At Epson, we truly believe in the transformative power of technology in various fundamental aspects of life. Hence, our role is to provide teachers with innovative equipment, such as interactive projectors and efficient printers, for them to transfer the knowledge. Modern classrooms, equipped with interactive tools, could free students and teachers from the traditional learning environment and thus reduces teacher’s control on students’ thinking, feeling, and behaviour. This increases students creativity and learning capabilities, whilst increasing their desire to gain knowledge.”
Celebrating 100 years of education by embracing change
Established in 1917, SJK Eng Chuan was the primary school for many neighbouring locals. While the Ministry of Education supplies teachers, the rest of school expenses are primarily dependent on support from school alumni and clan associations (Eng Chuan Tong Tan Kongsi). Hence, supply and maintenance of teaching equipment become a key challenge. Prior to this, the 10-year old projectors in all six classrooms were no longer working. As such, the school was heavily depended on the printers, photocopy machines, and projectors donated by the charitable public. However, there weren’t enough for all the classrooms.
“We are glad that our plight and request for assistance have gained attention from Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce. The publicity has brought our issue into the light – which resulted in this meaningful event with Epson Malaysia. Through the engaging tools supplied by Epson, we are confident that students will learn better and thus instilling higher confidence in parents to send their children to local schools. On behalf of the 74 students in school right now, we are truly thankful for the kind assistance from the public and private companies, like Epson,” said Dato’ Tan Kok Chye, Chairman of SJK Eng Chuan’s School Board.
The sponsorship from Epson includes products for teaching, maintenance support, and extended warranty. Notably, the star product of the sponsorship is Epson’s EB-695Wi interactive projector. Other sponsorships include EB-S41 entry level projectors and L3150 EcoTank printers which is essential for teachers to carry out their daily paperwork.