According to 17-year-old Estina Aines Jupilis, who attends SMK Pinggan-Pinggan in Kota Marudu, Sabah, many of her schoolmates travel to school on foot — some walking along the main road, others through the jungle. These journeys are long and arduous; in fact, she has even seen some of her friends arrive at school with cuts on their legs and feet.
Nevertheless, Estina shares that she is working hard, so she can one day give back to the people she grew up with.
“I want to remain in Sabah and become a police officer when I grow up to protect my community. I would also love to travel with my parents around the world one day, especially to Japan. I enjoy anime and Japanese culture, so I would love to experience and see the country with my own eyes,” shared Estina.
To spread awareness about the challenges students like Estina’s schoolmates face to attain a basic education, Astro Kasih is organising “Walk for Education” on May 28, 2022.
The 5km fun walk will allow participants to experience some of these students’ daily school commute, while helping to raise awareness and support their education.
Astro’s Group CEO, Henry Tan, expressed the group’s commitment to champion equal access to education for all in Malaysia.
“At Astro, we believe that every child has the right to education, and we are committed to using our platform, reach, content and resources to give children equal access to education for all,” said Tan.
To cut down the students’ journey to school, Astro Kasih, the sustainability arm of Astro Malaysia, built hostels for students of SK Magandai and SK Malinsau in Sabah, as well as SK Sg Paku in Sarawak.
The hostels helped save the students over 190,000 hours of daily commuting time in a normal school year. Also, while staying in the hostels, the students are able to spend more time on their studies and lesson revisions. The academic improvement of the students in all three hostels saw an average increase of 39.4% across all subjects in the UPSR exam from 2010 to 2019.
Additionally, they have partnered with Starfish Malaysia Foundation (Starfish), which runs five student hostels and one youth centre, to educate and empower rural communities in East Malaysia.
Starfish’s founder and director, Jimmy Lei, shared how dropout rates have reduced significantly since the introduction of these hostels.
“Many students have a low attendance rate of 30% to 40% before they moved into our hostels. Now, we are proud to say that all our kids have a 100% attendance rate and they can safely attend school every day as they live just a stone’s throw away,” he said.
The recent years have been especially challenging since students have not been able to attend school physically and lacked access to the Internet and electronic devices. Many of them were forced to take a pause from school during this period.
Nonetheless, Lei shared how Starfish has proposed solutions to help these students make up for lost time and catch up with their peers academically.
One such student is 11-year-old Gaerry Javier Magandun from SK Mangkapon Pitas in Kota Marudu, Sabah, who expressed his joy in returning to school and being in the classroom again.
“I am so happy that I finally get to see my teachers and friends in person after staying indoors for so long. During the Movement Control Order, our teachers had to hand-deliver our homework to us every week. Even then, it was difficult to get feedback on my work, so I could only rely on my friends, wardens and the learning channels available on the hostel televisions to study,” shared Gaerry.
For over a decade, Astro Kasih has been championing education via its Kampus Astro in School programme, where over five million students nationwide were given Astro decoders, television sets and free access to learning channels. The group also invested over RM126 million to create quality learning programmes such as Tutor TV SK, Tutor TV SMK, SPM Pro+ and more to ensure every child has a chance to succeed in school.
Fun filled event at Putrajaya on 28 May
“Walk for Education” aims to further the goal of helping as many children as possible gain access to quality education. The event promises to be a fun-filled day for the entire family, including games and activity stalls, as well as a mini concert featuring Timah, Wani Kayrie, Masya Masyitah, Abigail, Irfan Haris, Lil J, Ara Johari and Dem Lepak Boyz.
Scheduled for May 28, 2022 (Saturday) at Taman Wetland Putrajaya, participants can register, collect their kit and walk at their own pace between 6am to 10am.
Tickets are priced at RM63 each and families can purchase a combo package for RM226.80, consisting of two tickets for adults and two tickets for kids. All participants will receive a T-shirt, bib number, Astro Kasih bag and refreshments upon arrival, as well as a finisher medal and e-certificate after the walk.
All proceeds from “Walk for Education” will be channeled to Astro Hostels as well as Starfish’s hostels across East Malaysia.
Support these students’ journey for education now by registering here. Registration closes on May 16, 2022.
This article is sponsored by Astro Kasih.