Sri Bestari is the only national curriculum-type school in Malaysia to receive three Eco Green Flag Awards and the coveted Hibiscus Award by WWF-Malaysia as well as the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), Denmark.— FAIHAN GHANI/The Star
WHEN it comes to choosing a school, parents may face the dilemma of whether they should pick a school their child fits in, or a school that fits their child’s needs.
The challenge lies in finding schools that promise excellence and actively reimagine what education should look like.
Over the past decade, Sri Bestari Private School Kuala Lumpur (Sri Bestari) has quietly established itself as a forward-looking institution that pushes boundaries of what a school can and should do beyond conventional expectations.
Sri Bestari principal Dr Steven Baptist shared how the school has evolved into a school that champions academic innovation and future-ready education.
Pioneering STEM and AI education
What began as a modest after-school initiative for students keen on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and artificial intelligence (AI) evolved into a full-fledged curriculum during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Somewhere in 2021, we won a silver and bronze at a STEM competition in Taiwan. After the wins, I thought, ‘Let’s not wait anymore – let’s just teach everybody’,” Baptist recalled.
But a challenge came upon realising that there was no standardised syllabus or curriculum for STEM at the time.
“We asked around, checked other countries, and everybody came back and said none. Since we were all free at home, I said, ‘Let’s write one,’” Baptist noted.
From assembling the syllabus to printing, the whole process took four months. Today, that module is in its sixth iteration and continues to evolve.
That commitment has earned Sri Bestari the MyDigital Maker Hub recognition from the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), making it the only school in Malaysia to have received this recognition.
The STEM-AI programme now begins as early as age five and is offered throughout primary and secondary.
By 2026, all students will receive two hours a week of structured STEM-AI learning, blending theory with hands-on learning.
A daring initiative
Taking STEM and AI education even further is the construction of the Drone Arena, a fully-netted space that will allow students to explore drone technology safely.
Set to open in March, Sri Bestari aims to become the first Malaysian school to integrate drone soccer within its STEM-AI curriculum.The facility has already drawn interest from visiting schools overseas.
“We shared the setup we have here, and they were very impressed. They said, ‘When we go back, we want to do this too’,” Baptist shared.
A strong believer that the arena provides the practical experience which will complement the curricula instead of as a distraction, he added: “We just do what we think is right to achieve certain objectives.”
Set to launch in March, the Drone Arena will be the first of its kind in Malaysia that’ll double as a competitive e-Sports ring for students to compete in their drones.— FAIHAN GHANI/The Star
Benchmarking against the best
One of Sri Bestari’s defining strengths is its unique benchmarking assessments.
The school assesses student performance using internationally recognised assessments, such as New South Wales-based examinations and Cambridge Checkpoint examinations.
According to Baptist, this approach provides the school with much-needed clarity on where the curriculum is lacking and rectifies accordingly so that students’ performance matches up to world standards.
This clarity has driven strategic curriculum decisions over the years.
The school integrates Singapore Mathematics to strengthen conceptual understanding, and inquiry-based science education from France to nurture curiosity and analytical thinking.
Inclusive education
It all began when the school took notice of a few students who were suspected of having special needs. The school then faced a moral dilemma when it was unable to provide proper support for them.
“I feel it is a sin to take their money,” Baptist opined. The school would return fees and told families to find schools better equipped to help.
But that did not sit right either. The school ultimately decided to launch their own special needs programme called Education and Learning Support Academy (ELSA).
Today, ELSA supports around 70 to 80 students aged five to seventeen, with a careful 1:5 teacher-to-student ratio. Most of these students join mainstream classes, alongside their peers.
That commitment recently extended beyond Malaysia’s borders.
After seeing overseas exchange opportunities offered to other students, a special needs student asked, “Why is there nothing for us?” This question struck Baptist deeply.
“That hit me quite badly,” Baptist said, which would kick off the first exchange programme for them.
By February 2026, six ELSA students and their parents will travel to Yokohama for an exchange with a Japanese special needs school, an experience once thought unimaginable.
Driven by his passion to help special needs children, Baptist shared that it would be interesting to explore opening a dedicated ELSA private school, building on the 10 years of experience gained from running the ELSA programme.
Looking forward
Despite the decades-long track record, the school continues to grow.
Building on what has been achieved thus far and the success of its schools, the parent company’s education arm believes the time is ripe to consider expansion plans, including enhanced cultural exchange programmes and further development of the STEM-AI curriculum.
“We are always learning. As long as we stay sincere, curious and committed to our students, we are on the right path,” Baptist says.
