Sowing the seeds of unity in schools

SP Setia Berhad chairman Tan Sri Dr Wan Zahid Mohd Noordin

Former Education director-general Tan Sri Dr Wan Zahid Mohd Noordin is still passionate about grooming the nation’s young. Now as chairman of property developer SP Setia Bhd and SP Setia Foundation, he feels it is his duty to help mould future leaders through core values.

TAN Sri Dr Wan Zahid Mohd Noordin, 77, is a commanding figure. Tall and authoritative, the educationist speaks with a conviction that can only come from his genuine belief in the cause.

He speaks with fiery passion about continuing the work he started when he was with the government – that is, to inculcate and promote a caring, and united nation – which is critical to the ‘zero defect’ concept.

Introduced in 1993 by the Education Ministry, the concept aimed to stamp out drug abuse, truancy, examination failure, illiteracy, lack of religious knowledge, lateness, and bad management, while promoting discipline.

“I’m no longer director- general (DG) but this is still my country. I have a duty to do help. And if other corporate leaders feel the same, we’re on track.”

As chairman of SP Setia Bhd, Dr Wan Zahid is instrumental in setting the direction for SP Setia Foundation.

The charity trust promotes education and national unity, which he believes can transcend feelings of animosity that seem to be taking root in the country.

Set up by the listed property company, the foundation has been helping underprivileged Malay-sians since 2000.

In 2015, the foundation launched its Setia Caring School Programme by adopting nine under-performing schools in Selangor, Penang, and Johor.

Dr Wan Zahid speaks to StarEducate about the importance of focusing on the young and disadvantaged.

> Can you tell us about the Setia Caring School Programme?

We want to contribute to society by helping those that most people ignore. When I was DG, I promoted unity and caring as core values to the ‘zero defect’ concept, and it had tremendous impact. In 2010 when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was the Education Minister, we collected some RM3mil for the Bosnian education fund. Not only were non-governmental organisations, parents, teachers, and children supportive, the highest amount came from the Chinese schools.

No one questioned why we were helping Muslims and not those of other faiths.

People could have shunned the initiative with the excuse that charity begins at home. No one did that. So unity and understanding is possible.

People will reach out to each other. But we must promote the right values. I wanted to revive that caring culture. That’s how we came up with the Setia Caring School Programme and made unity our goal.

What we want to do is difficult because we want to measure impact rather than the number of activities.

It’s easy to invite a yang berhormat (VIP) to launch events and then forget about it. We used to give scholarships to individuals but when you do that, it’s just a one-off action.

But we want to create an enduring legacy and the only way to do that is to institutionalise and internalise caring and unity.

Let it take root and create its own momentum so that it will be sustainable. We started small. Under the Setia Caring School Programme, we adopted Chinese, Tamil and national schools.

Three schools grouped together, engaging in activities that promote unity and a caring culture. We want the students to get to know each other.

It’s easy to pick a good school and do that, but what’s the point? That’s why we insisted on disadvantaged schools. It takes dedication from our team, the parents and teachers. We don’t just throw money at the schools. We don’t want to repair toilets or paint gates.

Schools we adopt must be dedicated to the idea of unity and being caring.

For example, we support excursions because it brings the kids together.

We encourage the schools to do joint projects. They come up with what they want to do. It’s not just us dictating.

> What are some of the activities the schools have come up with?

In Selangor, the schools had a joint graduation programme last year. Pupils from all three primary schools wore the same graduation gown.

The Tamil school headmaster gave the speech. There was no ego. Everyone reached out to make it a success. It shows that the schools want to work together. That’s the kind of impact we want to see.

The students also went for a camp in Tanjung Malim. We provided the tents that each housed six students – an equal mix from the three schools.

The rule was that the group have to do things together – eat, gather firewood, whatever. They have to get to know and look out for each other. Getting along was effortless for them. It’s fantastic how children take to unity and caring for one another, so easily. Schools don’t teach this.

Another good example is how the pupils visit old folks’ homes during the various festivals.

At a time when we keep reading about children abandoning their parents, it’s more important now than ever to promote respect for the elders.

During one visit, a Chinese boy started washing the feet of an elderly inmate. His friends were all surprised because it’s not part of their culture.

But they followed. Isn’t this long-forgotten practice beautiful? It was a profound moment and the children enjoyed themselves.

They had no reservations interacting with the seniors. Adults look at superficial things like colour, status and religion. Children just see another human being. No discrimination. Imagine if we could inculcate and spread such values.

> Indiscipline, bullying and racism, seem to be a growing problem among the young. Why?

When I was DG, all our policies were to promote unity in diversity. I felt that the Education Ministry had to be at the forefront of doing that.

If we had followed up the caring school programme with intensity, we won’t be facing these issues today.

When you stop something good, there’s a price to pay. When we had the ‘zero defect’ concept, I never heard of such things happening to such a large degree. We even tamed one of the most problematic schools in the country.

No teacher wanted to go to this secondary school in Kuala Lumpur because it meant having their car tyres slashed and windows smashed. They also faced physical intimidation.

I don’t believe in caning because in a school like that, you would need 1,000 canes.

I told the parent-teacher association that they must think of a solution, and they came back with a very creative idea – they would voluntarily take turns to prepare breakfast for the students every morning.

In just two months, discipline was restored. Six months later I visited the school and was surprised at how much things had changed.

Similarly, the headmaster of a school in Kepong told me how he was confronted by gangsters demanding to know why he locked the school gates at 7.45am every day.

Appealing to the gang leader he said, ‘I don’t want them to be like you’. The latter broke down and cried, promising to cooperate with the headmaster in the end.

You see, it’s about reaching out to the people and showing them that we really care.

It’s not complicated. People need love, recognition, and to not be discriminated against. Simple acts like celebrating pupils’ birthdays during assembly, make a difference.

As educationists, we cannot tolerate even one person getting bullied.

But I believe in autonomy because different problems need to be tackled differently. You need creativity. There’s no generalised solution for all schools.

> Inculcating a caring culture, and unity among children, is your top agenda. Why is it so important to start young?

We must nip problems in the bud. The children are going to be the ones to succeed us and determine the kind of world they want to live in. When people get to know each other as human beings, there will be no more prejudice. All religions promote harmony. Those who are against this must be crazy because the alternative is disunity, hostility and violence.

> How can Malaysians do their part to help?

To promote unity is everyone’s duty. We’re happy to work with other corporations because there’s so much to be done. We want to synergise with the Education Ministry.

The ministry has sent us some Form Six students to work with but we would like to enhance that collaboration.

The ministry is free to use our Setia Caring School Programme as a template if they wish.

I’d like to see parents and teachers internalising the values we are promoting and come tell us what they’d like to do.

We can support the ideas but dedication is key.

If you’re going to lose interest after a few months, then don’t bother.

Creating a united and caring society takes time. You must believe in it. We want this programme to take root, gain momentum and be sustainable. That’s why we must institutionalise it. I see it happening slowly, but surely.

We want to start the programme in other states but school heads must want it. We can have 1,000 schools onboard overnight, but what’s the point if we cannot monitor the impact and don’t have the leadership and infrastructure to do it well?

If you have some creative ideas write to us. Our approach is organic. There’s only one requirement – you must be sincere and willing to go the distance.

> What are the foundation’s other projects?

We support the Education Ministry’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) agenda.

We searched for the best person to train teachers in teaching mathematics. We’re interested in helping those in the last classes.

The trainer told me that there’s no such thing as a stupid student because everyone can be motivated. We spent about RM200,000 to get her services and her method has managed to turn around students, including those who used to play truant during math classes. Now they can’t wait for lessons.

This foundation’s Mathematics project was designed to enhance the understanding of problem-solving mechanisms. It’s free. Teachers are trained and given bi-monthly coaching sessions.

Groups of students also undergo a one-on-one mentorship with the trainers. The results are very encouraging but we’d like to see more teachers taking advantage of this.

The project ends in April.

*For details on how you can help, log on to www.setiafoundation.com.my/index.asp