Simpang Pulai is a town 10km south of Ipoh and is commonly known as the town one has to pass through when travelling by road to Cameron Highlands, Pahang.
This centre came about when the elder of a church, Philip Boey, noticed a group of Cambodian children in his neighbourhood. Subsequently, he visited a house in this neighbourhood and was greeted by several families living there with children keen for education. After numerous visits and preparation at the church premises, a short teachers’ training was conducted in early May 2023 followed by a live classroom with 12 children from thecommunity attending with their parents.
The learning centre officially opened its doors on 12 June 2023. Excitement was in the air as the parents came with their children to register with us. The centre started with 8 children ranging from 6 to 12 years old. The first week went by quickly with lots of fun activities to get the students acquainted to the English language in a classroom setting. They are also taught to follow classroom rules and instructions as well as in building relationships with their teachers.
From the second week onwards, more concrete lessons were introduced in small doses to the students following a structured timetable covering the 3 core subjects of English, Maths and Science with fun sessions such as Art & Craft, Music, Moral Storytime and Playtime injected in between the core subjects.
This centre is blessed with very talented teachers who are proficient in English, creative in Art & Craft and Music. One of the projects they did was to repaint a table top with their handprints in rainbow colours.
Despite some hiccups, the teachers continue to plod on and the centre is beginning to attract children from other communities.
We are glad to hear from the main teacher some encouraging reports after 2 months from the initial inception:
“We’re all doing pretty well, the students are starting to pick up speed with writing and they enjoy finishing their homework during the break time and they can get their work done well.
Some of the students are faster than others, so they are given brain activity worksheets to keep them in a thinking mode – they look forward to these activities which pushes them to finish their work faster.”
experience, but it is very encouraging to hear her say this only after 2 months:
“I think I am just very happy to find that I fit in really well as a teacher… and I love seeing the students learning. I am happy to see how excited they are to come for classes.”
The plan forward next year is to have the older students go on a programme more suited for them and the younger students to embark on the primary programme.
