GELANG PATAH: Berita Harian (BH) recently collaborated with Forest City's master developer Country Garden Pacificview Sdn Bhd (CGPV) to build gazebos in five primary schools in Tunjung Kupang here in a bid to promote the reading culture and provide conducive learning amenities for pupils.
The gazebos were officially handed over to the five schools today during a Wakaf BH programme, which is part of the Bahasa Malaysia daily's corporate social responsibililty initiative.
BH executive editor for news, features and digital, Datuk Ahmad Zaini Kamaruzzaman said the gazebos were built with help from Country Garden Pacificview, and they were designed to provide comfort and space for teachers and pupils whenever they wished to take their lessons outdoors.
"The project is to celebrate Berita Harian's 60th anniversary this year.
"Since the Wakaf BH education programme was launched early this year, a total of 11 schools were picked nationwide for the project.
"We hope that the new amenities will be able encourage the reading habit during non-classroom hours.
"The gazebos can be used by teachers to engage in an outdoor lessons within the school compound," said Zaini after a handing over ceremony of the Wakaf BH programme at SK Tiram Duku here today.
Also present were CGPV corporate communication head Aeron Munajat.
The programme later moved on to the other four schools: SK Tanjung Adang, SK Morni Pok, SK Tanjung Kupang and SK Pendas Laut.
Each gazebo comes with three white board panels for lesson purposes and a U-shaped seating that can accommodate between 15 to 25 pupils. The structure is designed to withstand severe weather conditions.
Meanwhile, Aeron said that CGPV has been actively supporting educational programmes conducted by the New Straits Times Press' stable of newspapers such as BH and the New Straits Times (NST).
"In August this year, the Country Garden Pacificview collaborated with BH and NST for an Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) Didik and educational workshops involving pupils from the same five schools in Tanjung Kupang subdistrict.
"The pupils and teachers from these schools have been adopted by Country Garden Pacificview.
"The schools are located within the areas that will receive spillover from the Forest City development, and we have roped them in many educational initiatives including those involving the New Straits Times Press," she said.