Dzulkefly (back row, third from left), Johor Works, Infrastructure and Transport committee chairman Mazlan Bujang (fourth from left) and Neelsen (second from left) having a photo taken with students after presenting school aid during the Back To School programme in Gelang Patah.
ISKANDAR PUTERI: The private sector is encouraged to organise more corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes, especially ones involving education aid to help underprivileged students.
Johor Housing and Rural Development Committee chairman Dzulkefly Ahmad said the CSR programmes could also give the students a chance to pursue their education in a comfortable manner and continue enriching its surrounding communities.
“The government cannot work alone in helping the people, especially those in need and the low-income families.
“This kind of aid can also ease the parents’ burden in preparing their child in the current school season.
“We hope this aid will encourage the underprivileged students to study hard,” he said in a speech at the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) education initiative, Back To School Programme 2019, here, on Wednesday.
On PTP’s CSR programme, Dzulkefly said education could create empowerment and it is the catalyst for upward social mobility.
“It is encouraging to see a dynamic and leading corporate company like PTP giving opportunities to underprivileged students to pursue their education.
“This is in line with the aspiration of our Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to see more industry players being more active in helping to create human capital that is capable of taking Malaysia to developed nation status,” he said.
Meanwhile, PTP chief executive officer Marco Neelsen said the goal of the programme was to provide families with the assistance needed to enable their children to continue attending their lessons at school.
“It is also to alleviate the parents’ burden of providing essential school necessities.
“In providing these children with access to education, we hope to open up more opportunities for them to grow and develop and that they will, in turn, give back to their families and community in the future,” he said.
A total of 270 underprivileged students from primary and secondary schools within the Iskandar Puteri area were chosen to receive the school supplies worth RM150.
One of the recipients, Faizal Buang, 12, from SK Ladang Pendas, said this is the second time he received such aid from the private sector for this year’s school session.
“I received school shoes before, but this is my first time receiving a school bag,” he said.
Another recipient, Suhadah Sulaiman, 12, also from SK Ladang Pendas, said she was happy to get a school bag that she could now share with her younger brother.
“I got a school bag before but my brother did not, so i am going to give this school bag to him,” she said.
