KUALA LUMPUR: The New Straits Times Press Bhd (NSTP)’s plan to enhance its education content is seen as a commendable effort to help students with their studies and improve their general knowledge.
In a statement today, Johor English Language Teaching Association (Jelta) chairman Vincent D’Silva said he welcomes NSTP’s initiative, adding that newspapers are one of the best platforms for students to gain knowledge outside of the classroom.
“Unlike textbooks, which are limited in their content scope, newspapers cover a multitude of areas, ranging from day-to-day topics to issues that need a lot of thinking about to understand fully,” he said.
Yesterday, NSTP chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Jalil Hamid said that the company is looking to include more curriculum in its newspapers’ education sections, in an effort to cater to the needs of primary, secondary and university students in the country.
He said this is due to the increased demand for education content, citing, for example, Didik – a Berita Harian education pullout which has a weekly circulation of at least 100,000.
“I take this opportunity to thank and congratulate NSTP chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Jalil Hamid for his pragmatic approach to bringing the world into classrooms via the newspaper.
“Kudos to the New Straits Times for their initiative in helping teachers and students improve their English using a very useful resource that is within most people’s budget,” Vincent added.
Aside from newspaper inserts, NSTP had previously introduced the FullAMark education portal and mobile application, which is an exam-based interactive e-learning portal designed to ease the process of learning outside the classroom.
Through FullAMark, students can revise their subjects while preparing for their Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR), Pentaksiran Tingkatan Tiga (PT3) and Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).