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Bridging language gap between rural

and urban schools
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Monday, 14 Oct 2019 Tangkak 65

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Amal (left) handing the mock cheque for RM30,000 to Dr Sharifah (second from right) as Select State and Location to view the latest API reading
Yusof (second from left) looks on.
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SABAH: Children today are the ones who will shape our tomorrow. But to do this
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successfully, they need a strong foundation in education.

Students from rural areas in Sabah lack opportunities to improve their proficiency in Source: Department of Environment, Malaysia
using English as their second language at school.

To combat this, LBS Foundation in collaboration with Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu
Pearl worked together to launch Project REAL (Rural-Focus, English For All) for
rural students in Sabah to increase their accessibility in resources to improve their
English.

The programme’s aim is to enable and empower children to learn and ultimately
have access to more opportunities to develop themselves and their communities.

Together the parties strive to provide the children a foundation in English through
the setting up of an English Corner in each school with all of the provisions needed
so they can study with ease.

With this, LBS Foundation aspires to bridge the gap in English proficiency between
rural and urban schools.

Programmes like REAL can help the children build their confidence and improve
their English from a young age.

The project is focused on pupils in Year Four, Five and Six as it will get them ready
for their UPSR.

More than 200 students statewide will receive a wide range of academic tools,
reading materials and engaging programmes for their student experience. One of
the things that has been done to support this programme is by providing English—
Malay dictionaries for pupils from Year Four to Six to encourage better
understanding and usage of English words.

With initiatives like this, LBS Foundation hopes that this will close the gap between
rural students and students from urban schools so that they will have a better
opportunity to gain knowledge and improve their future.

Present at the launch was Sabah Innovation and Education Minister Datuk Dr Yusof
B Yacob, LBS Foundation general manager Amal Abdul Aziz and Rotary Club of
Kota Kinabalu Pearl chairman Datuk Dr Sharifah Habsah.

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