A TAMIL school, which is under the School Transformation 2025 (TS25) programme, is the latest beneficiary of Carlsberg Malaysia’s Safer Schools campaign.
TS25 is part of the Education Ministry’s efforts to upgrade the performance and quality of its students and schools in accordance with the current educational needs of the country.
The company donated three facial-recognition infrared thermometers and provided disinfection services to SJK (T) Persiaran Raja Muda Musa in Klang under its campaign.
Carlsberg Malaysia corporate affairs director Pearl Lai said the company had contributed RM3.1mil in sponsorship in its Safer Schools campaign since the programme was launched last year amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The company donated RM1.5mil last year and another RM1.6mil this year to support the campaign in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
“It is our way of giving back to the community.
“We provide Covid-related relief to communities in need amid this pandemic,” she told reporters during the presentation at the school.
She said the schools and parents had expressed their appreciation for the timely donation of the handheld thermometers and disinfection services last year.
This year, Carlsberg Malaysia contributed 622 facial-recognition infrared thermometers and disinfection services to 100 schools.
“We asked for feedback from the school heads, parents, teachers and students on the contributions. All of them unanimously said it provided peace of mind,” said Lai.
She noted that children were also affected by home learning, saying that online classes “might not bring out the best when it came to learning and teaching.
“But all the parents are fearful of sending their children back to school, especially when the young ones are not vaccinated yet.
“I don’t think there is one solution that can stop the infection of Covid-19, but there are many control measures that can reduce the risk, such as taking body temperature.
“It gave the schoolchildren and their parents peace of mind when physical classes resumed,” she added.
SJK (T) Persiaran Raja Muda Musa headmaster Thamilarasu Subramaniam, in expressing gratitude to Carlsberg for the sponsorship, said, “It will make it easy to check temperature and take steps to protect our teachers, staff and visitors from any possible infections.
“It is really helpful for the smooth operations of the school, which has 36 teachers and 610 pupils studying in 16 classes.
“We hope more corporations will come forward to help us as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative as this will help to promote a safer learning environment which in turn will encourage more achievements,” he said.
He added that Carlsberg Malaysia had also provided sanitisation services and face masks to the school last year.
The school’s Parent-Teacher Association president Utiyasoorian Balaraman said the facial-recognition infrared thermometers were helpful to efficiently monitor the temperatures of pupils, teachers, staff, parents and visitors upon their arrival, and to ensure the school could practise precautionary safety measures during the endemic phase of Covid-19.
The brewer is partnering with WonderKlean, one of Cuckoo home appliance brand’s services, to provide full disinfection at schools with reported positive cases of Covid-19.
“If there is confirmation from the Health Ministry that a teacher or a student has Covid-19, a team is sent to the school for disinfection within 24 hours in Klang Valley or 48 hours outside Klang Valley,” said Lai.
She said the disinfection service helped school heads and staff by removing the burden of finding a proper supplier and negotiating the price for such services.
“We recognise that mental health is very important, not just physical health.”
Thamilarasu said the 101-year-old Tamil school had progressed under the TS25 programme.
“Our Year Five pupils won a gold medal this year at the International Innovation and Invention Competition, organised by Malaysia Innovation, Invention and Creativity Association, for creating a herbal hand sanitiser,” he said.
He further said that five pupils from the school had competed with 800 participants across the globe, and won for their invention using karpuravalli (Indian borage) and aloe vera.
Thamilarasu said five six-year-olds from the SJK (T) Persiaran Raja Muda Musa Kindergarten won a silver award for their herbal mouth wash invention.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
