English tuition classes at Effingham Tamil Primary School: June 2009
AMURT/AMURTEL conducts after-school English tuition classes for Standard 3 students at SJK (Tamil) Effingham in Petaling Jaya, Selangor 2 times a week. The objective is to help the children improve their standard of English which is a compulsory must-pass subject for the Standard 6 UPSR examinations. Around 30+ students take part regularly in the program. They are divided into 3 groups according to the competence in English. To date, the classes are progressing well, with steady progress being made.
AMURT & AMURTEL volunteers Maney Malar (above), Flory (Below) and Vijaya (Bottom) provide after-school English tuition sessions 2 times a week
To date, teachers at the school report that the students are happy with the tuition sessions and the extra help they are getting from our dedicated volunteers. Flory, a retired government officer who has been helping with other tuition programs over the last 10 years, said that seeing the slow but noticeable progress in the students motivates her to keep going. She also takes the opportunity to pass on positive values and a vision to the young ones under her care, to give them direction and an ambition to aim for.
Darah Medical & Motivational Camps 3-4 June 2008
AMURT & AMURTEL’s medical camp conducted in partnership with UMIC (United Malaysian Indian Club) on Sunday, 4 May 2008 at Bukit Darah, Sungai Buloh, was a great success. Our team of doctors and nurses (including a team from the Sg. Buloh Klinik Kesihatan) attended to a total of 221 patients: 72 girls, 72 boys, 54 women and 23 men. The services provided included vision checks, de-worming medication and pap smear tests, among others. Those needing further medical attention have been given referrals. The children were also given t-shirts and biscuits and milk drinks.
The female population in Malaysia are generally reluctant to undergo the pap smear test. We are therefore particularly pleased to report that we achieved a total of 35 women who took the pap smear test.
AMURT & AMURTEL also conducted an overnight motivational camp for the Standard 6 students of Bukit Darah Tamil Primary School on 3-4 May. The objective of this camp is to instill confidence and determination in the students so that they will do well at the year-end UPSR examinations. We are pleased to report that the students responded very positively to the motivational camp and are all psyched up to meet their big exams.
The principal of Bukit Darah Tamil Primary School has invited us to conduct a yoga exercise and educational program for the school. AMURT & AMURTEL is happy to accept this invitation to work with the children in a stimulus program with the objective of improving the children’s passing rate as well as quality of life.
Effingham Tamil School English Tuition Program April 2007 – ongoing
The Effingham Estate Tamil school in Kayu Ara, Selangor is the beneficiary of this English tuition program carried out under the AMURT-AMURTEL WP & Selangor. The project started in April 2007 with the aim of improving the standard of English for the Year 2 and Year 3 pupils. This year, the school headmistress has asked us to include the weak Year 5 students as well.
Volunteers conduct the classes which are held once a week on Saturday mornings. Emphasis is put on learning phonics to help the children learn to read better. The children are given a fun and enjoyable environment to learn English, with games, songs and “stars” to earn little rewards. We get an average of about 20 – 30 students every week.
This year we plan to measure the children’s improvement in the English language. Our first task was to conduct an assessment of each child’s ability. With these results, we will be able to guide the children in their areas of weakness, and monitor the improvements made in school exams.
We wish to attract the really weak students, who may be in danger of dropping out of school completely. However, this continues to be a challenge.
