Teacher provides free tuition to empower underprivileged students
PETALING JAYA: What began as an effort to provide food for struggling families during the pandemic has grown into a mission to help children build a better future through education.
For the past five years, primary school teacher Abdul Rafi Abdul Karim, 38, better known as Cikgu Rafi, has been providing free tuition to children from lower-income families through the non-governmental organisation Pertubuhan Kebajikan Amal Sirih (Pekasih).
The father of two teaches 60 pupils Mathematics, Science and English, while another group of 25 Form Four and Form Five students attend his English language classes on weekday evenings.
“During the weekend I head over to orphanages to continue this too,” he said.
For Cikgu Rafi, the tuition classes are not simply about helping students score better grades, but ensuring they do not fall behind because their families cannot afford extra help.
“I just want the students to understand the basics, improve their mistakes and learn how to find solutions when their teachers, parents or peers are unable to help them,” he said.
The initiative began in 2021, when Cikgu Rafi and his friends began asking if food aid alone was enough to make a lasting difference.
“At one point, we were spending more than RM6,000 a month helping struggling families.
“But we realise later that giving food helps them for that day, and doesn’t necessarily change their future.
“I always believe that knowledge is power. If we can give a child knowledge, they have a better chance of changing their lives and the future of their family,” he said.
Cikgu Rafi said students are carefully selected to ensure the assistance reached those who genuinely need it.
“Some of my students, when they first started, their English was broken. Now they can construct simple sentences. I just need to make sure they don’t write wrongly.
“The hardest subject for them is Mathematics,” he said, adding that he often reminds parents through group chats to help their children practise basic multiplication.
Although technology has become part of modern learning, Cikgu Rafi still encourages his students to pick up a dictionary and search for unfamiliar words themselves.
His secondary school students are only allowed to use their phones when instructed to do so.
“I teach them that there is such a thing as artificial intelligence (AI), not for them to copy from it but to see the difference between what AI produces and how they write,” he said.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Firdhaus Kamaludin, 26, an e-hailing driver said the classes have made a real difference since the pandemic for his Year Six brother.
“His performance has improved thanks to the efforts of Cikgu Rafi and his team at Pekasih,” he said.
Haslinda Basari, 37, mother to a Year Two pupil said the tuition classes have been a big help for parents who cannot afford to send their children to extra classes after school.
“The changes have been very positive as my child’s performance has improved and her focus is clearer,” she said, adding that her daughter would now revise lessons consistently.
