MAHB human resources senior general manager Azman Shah Mohamed said to date MAHB had adopted 32 schools since the programme’s inception in 2007.
“Our team has made countless continuous efforts to realise the aspiration of Beyond Borders particularly to improve the academic achievement in the English language and all these efforts have shown tremendous results.
“During phase three of this programme, we managed to achieve a passing rate of 73% compared with when it (the programme) first started, which was at 54%,” he said at the “Act It Up” drama competition held at the Sama-Sama Hotel.
He said the Beyond Borders programme was aimed at raising awareness on the importance of education and character-building. It is to assist under-privileged students improve their literacy in the English language.
The Beyond Borders programme has created various programmes, namely Developing Extraordinary Students Project, Living in English Project, Beyond Borders English Language (BEL) Project, Read and Reward Project and the Act it Up Drama Competition, to encourage children to learn the language through more interactive methods.
“With these educational programmes, we hope to have made a significant difference to the 30,000 students, teachers, parents and the community.
“The tagline, ‘Give Them Wings, Let Them Fly’ sets to inspire the lives of everyone involved in the programme, especially the students whom we hope will grow up to become high achievers and well-rounded individuals,” said Azman.
Azman said MAHB hoped that through this programme, students would see the importance of education and set higher goals to chart their destiny.
“So, dream big. People say if your dream doesn’t scare you, then it isn’t big enough. Remember, you are responsible for your own destiny. So, work hard.
“We define our own destiny and if our aspiration is to exceed expectations, we will exceed expectations, Beyond Borders,” he said.
The Beyond Borders programme today held it’s “Act It Up” drama competition for four of its adopted schools: SK Dengkil, SK Bukit Bangkong (A), SJK (C) Wah Lian and SJK (T) Dengkil.
The Beyond Borders initiative is a collaboration with Pintar Foundation which was established under the auspices of the finance ministry and Khazanah Nasional.
The “Act It Up” drama competition required students to reenact stories from English books that were donated by Malaysia Airports to the schools in order to encourage the love for reading and inculcate confidence in using the language.
The event also recognised outstanding students who performed extremely well in their English examinations and successfully completed the projects that were given to them as part of the Beyond Borders programme throughout the school year.
The Beyond Borders Act It Up drama competition was judged by Sherina Leong Aris, BEL Programme consultant, Mohd Kamarulzaman Taib from Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan and general manager of corporate communications Malaysia Airports Nik Anis Nik Zakaria.