8 Bright Kids
Character building through
SRI Bestari International School’s (SBIS)
motto since its inception is to mould
passionate individuals who are determined
to make a difference throughout the whole
world no matter which horizons they set
their sights upon. As part of the MAD
(Making A Difference) Together Outreach
Programme, it plans to instil empathy and
a giving nature in the students through
diverse character-building modules. The
new academic year kick-started with a
workshop which aimed to achieve just
that – how to not merely be successful
entrepreneurs, but also to give back to the
society in some form. SBIS was honoured to
have PichaEats chief executive officer Lim
Yuet Kim and her team conducting a four-
day Social Enterprise Workshop from Sept 1
to 4.
PichaEats is an organisation that identifies
home cooks, then trains them to become
professional chefs while it designs the
menus and packaging, handles branding
and marketing, and arranges logistics to
deliver the food cooked by
the chefs to clients. It
provides a platform
where refugee
mothers can cook
social enterprise modules
delicious, authentic meals as the
organisation markets and delivers their food
to the public.
The objective of the workshop was not just
to warm students up to the idea of starting
their own business, but to also learn from
the process of setting up one geared towards
social entrepreneurship. It guided the
students to identify local or global social
issues, followed by a brainstorming session
to address these issues with appropriate
solutions. Moreover, they were prompted to
think up viable marketing strategies limited
by scant resources.
It was interesting to see the students’
passion in solving various problems from
diminishing coral reefs and rural education,
to deforestation and farmers’ poverty.
The knowledge taught will be applied in
the Social Enterprise Programme through
the establishment of the SBIS Boutique. The
SBIS Boutique was set up by Year 7 students
in December last year. It was
launched on Jan 22 in conjunction
with the Chinese New Year
celebration. They started by
collecting used clothes and
accessories from the school
community – parents, students,
teachers and staff – and with
guidance, they sorted the
items into categories such
as men, women, unisex,
children, accessories, and
donations to refugee
centres or orphanages.
The students
worked
collaboratively
on a detailed
inventory, along with tagging, pricing and
sales. SBIS Boutique aims to instil students
with an entrepreneurial mindset and the
generated revenue is set to be used for the
MAD programme, thus giving them a
chance to contribute back to society.
While setting up the boutique was one
way of attaining its goals, the school also
created a platform for the students to
channel their ideas – and that resulted in
incorporating the Social Enterprise Society
into its curriculum. The society’s main
purpose is to promote, encourage and make
a social change. During meetings held by the
society, students would be trained to
brainstorm and seek ways to conduct events
that enable them to earn a sustainable
revenue which maximises profits, while
maximising any benefits to the society and
environment. They would then pursue
revenue-generating endeavours that would,
in turn, fund their social causes.
The school strongly believes in the
principles of GRIT – gratitude, resilience,
intentional inconvenience and teamwork.
Holding events and workshops to reinforce
these character qualities in the students is
not something new, as far as SBIS is
concerned. For Bestarians, all major events
have had something to do with giving back
to the community.
SBIS had previously celebrated Christmas
with refugee kids in Malaysia, where
Bestarians gladly bought meals for refugees
and proved themselves as entertaining hosts
to brighten up the children’s day during the
season of joy.
On another note, the Deepavali
celebration was made memorable as well
when quite a number of them donated their
THE STAR, TUESDAY 6 OCTOBER 2020
hair to the Locks of Hope Association, a
charitable organisation that turns hair gifted
by the public into wigs for cancer patients. Its
hair donation drive witnessed not just the
students, but also parents, and SBIS teachers
and staff donating their hair for a good cause.
In addition, SBIS has interwoven the My
Little MBA (Mind-Blowing Adventures)
programme into its syllabus, where students
are able to thrive with thematic learning
focused on three important components –
Financial Literacy, Communication &
Negotiation Skills and Product Science. At the
end of Year 9, Bestarians will be equipped to
take the International General Certificate of
Secondary Education (IGCSE) Enterprise
examination as a knowledge foundation prior
to selecting their Year 10 subject combination.
As such, SBIS focuses on all-rounded
education beyond merely academic
excellence as a platform of self-discovery and
self-realisation in the students’ learning
journey – ultimately guiding them to be
intentional in building their own identities
and, in the process, become the best version
of themselves.
SBIS is a wholly owned subsidiary of Land
& General Bhd. It strives to provide
affordable and high-quality education that
equips students with the necessary skills,
confidence and abilities for them to forge
new and broad pathways. The school believes
in combining the best people and the best
learning approaches together to empower
young minds.
n For enquiries about SBIS’ next intake, call
the admissions and marketing department at
03-6263 9923 (ext 201/209) or email sbis_
admissions@bestari.edu.my
THE STAR, TUESDAY 6 OCTOBER 2020
WE are increasingly hearing arguments
that exams do not matter, do not measure
ability accurately or that they place undue
pressure on students. However, it is elc
International School’s view that society has
not changed significantly to embrace a
reduction of exams, let alone its removal
or replacement.
As elc head of secondary Chong Soh Nee
states: “Life is a series of examinations
where you are assessed constantly and
evaluated before being judged as ‘Good’ or
‘Needs Improving’.
“You leave school after completing Form
5 or Year 11. Then, you head to a college to
take another programme, perhaps the
A-Levels. You sit for the A-Levels after 18
months and then you move to the
university of your choice. There you study
for three or four years, cramming for your
year-end exams, then you finally graduate.
You are free! The world is your oyster! You
can have the life you have always dreamt
of! Think again.
“You apply for a job, and you are called in
for an interview. Your resume is assessed,
your answers evaluated and your ability
tested. You do this a few times, then
hopefully you finally get a job. Now, you
settle into your new office. Is it all over? Not
by a long shot.
“In your new job, you are constantly
being evaluated and assessed. Your
decisions and leadership skills are
scrutinised. Your performance is discussed
formally at appraisals. That is when it
finally hits you – examinations never end.”
To do away with exams without adjusting
the way the workplace operates is a recipe
for failure and would jeopardise the
chances of students’ success in later life.
Change on the scale required would be
slow and fraught with challenges, and it is
unfair to start from the bottom up with
students and expect employers to
understand those changes and evaluate
new recruits accordingly.
Logically, any campaign for change
should start from the top and work its way
down. This means that, meanwhile,
Exams still help
students achieve success
Examination success will continue to have a direct positive impact on employability for most
students.
examination success will continue to have
a direct positive impact on employability
for most students.
Of course, some schools have moved
towards pure coursework, but this is
merely another form of assessment on a
long-term basis. It could be argued that this
constant assessment and feedback can take
its toll on a student who does not have the
particular kind of work ethic suited for
protracted coursework.
We are all different, so finding the right
type of assessment for the individual makes
achieving success in school and later life
more likely. Hence, picking the right school
is incredibly important to achieving future
success, and what is right for one family is
not necessarily right for another.
At elc, examinations are one method of
preparation for life that continues to help
students achieve success and cope with the
pressures of later life. However, without
support from parents and teachers, it would
be impossible for students to manage
Bright Kids 9
completely and so there is a balancing act
always in play.
Whilst student mental health and the
development of social skills are of prime
importance to the school, the approach
followed at elc is somewhat different.
Together with parents, the teachers would
always try to ensure there is at least some
pressure present – teaching students to
recognise that a work ethic is vital and that
pressure is a challenge which they need to
overcome and ultimately grow in resilience,
ready for the next “pressure”. At the same
time, there must be a healthy offering of
extracurricular activities. Without parental
and teacher support this would be
impossible to get right, but with over 30
years of experience in education, elc
continues to deliver academic success, and
well-rounded and well-balanced students.
The recent International General
Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE)
examination – despite the troubles posed by
Covid-19 – is no exception, with over 78% of
all papers sat across both campuses at A* to
A grades and a 100% pass rate. Taken over
10 years, elc has achieved 75% in
distinctions for all papers sat; a remarkable
feat which firmly underpins its claim of
delivering continued academic excellence.
Change is inevitable and all the evidence
suggests that elc will successfully adapt
when required. In the meantime, it
continues to deliver academic excellence
with a team of dedicated teachers and like-
minded parents – a formidable support
system indeed.
n For more information on elc, visit www.
elc.edu.my