MEPS puts NiE on the map

A recent sponsorship agreement will see students from 20 schools in five states receiving a boost in improving their English.

THE Malaysian Electronic Payment System Sdn Bhd (MEPS) is sponsoring 25,000 copies of the Newspaper-in-Education (NiE) pullout to 20 schools in Peninsular Malaysia.

The commitment will see the schools receiving 27 issues of TheStar’s education pullout until Nov 6.

MEPS group managing director Zulkanain Kassim presented the mock cheque to Star Publications (M) Bhd director of operations Roshan Thiran at MEPS’s corporate office in Bangsar South.

Also present at the cheque presentation ceremony was Star Publications (M) Bhd senior circulation executive Nur Afzan Abdul Adziz.

A first time sponsor of NiE, Zulkanain said that as part of its corporate social responsibility, MEPS wanted to contribute to students and teachers in rural areas who appreciated learning in English.

“I am from a poor family in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, and my entire education was (conducted) in Bahasa Malaysia.

“It was only when I started working that I began using English, but our youth must start doing so at primary and secondary levels,” he said.

He also noted the importance of English in the day-to-day communication of working life and the corporate world.

“At MEPS, for example, we are connected to clients in Singapore, China and Vietnam.

In such international cases, he said, English is the only viable medium of communication, thus making it imperative for Malaysian students to master the language if they wanted to be successful global players.

The NiE pullout, published every Wednesday, presents English language learning for all proficiency levels in a fun and interactive manner.

Following syllabus-based topics, the pullout’s activities help to strengthen listening, speaking, reading and writing skills as well as develop critical thinking skills in students.

The schools receiving the sponsorship from Perak are SJK (T) YMHA Taiping, SK Convent Kota, SMK Hua Lian Taiping and SMK Darul Ridzuan. The schools receiving the sponsored copies from Perlis are SK Tunku Budriah, SK Sena, SMK Derma and SMK Kuala Perlis.

From Kelantan, the schools receiving their copies of NiE are from SK Zainab, SJK Chung Hwa, SM Puteri, and SMK Kota Bahru.

SK Bukit Sekilau, SK Abu Bakar, SMK Hwa Lian and SMK Seri Mahkota from Pahang, and SK Tengku Bariah, SK Ladang, SMK Sultan Sulaiman and SMK Chukai, from Terengganu will also be receiving sponsored copies of the pullout.

For enquiries on NiE packages and the sponsorship programme, contact The Star’s Customer Care Unit at 03-­7967 1777 between 9am and 5pm from Monday to Friday.