KUALA LUMPUR: The Affin Bank Group is collaborating with the New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd to enliven classroom lessons by donating 12,600 copies of newspapers for 10 schools.
Affin Islamic Bank Bhd chief executive officer Nazlee Khalifah said the selected schools were located near the Armed Forces’ camps as Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) was a prominent shareholder of Affin Bank Group.
The sponsorship is worth RM17,640.
“The papers are scheduled to be distributed from June until November.”
The newspapers published under NSTP are New Straits Times, Berita Harian and Harian Metro.
Nazlee was present at Balai Berita in Bangsar here for a mock cheque presentation on July 4.
The mock cheque was received by New Straits Times group editor Rashid Yusof and Berita Harian group editor Khaidir A. Majid.
Nazlee said it was the first time they were collaborating with NSTP on an education initiative after working together on other charitable causes through the Kotak Rezeki Harian Metro and a sports competition, Harian Metro Mountain Bike Grand Prix.
“With NSTP, we don’t want it to be a one-off thing, but we hope to do this every year.
“We want students to immerse themselves in interactive or activity-based learning other than reading books.”
He said pullouts from the New Straits Times and Berita Harian would aid in learning and teaching.
“We hope teachers will make full use of the contents so that their students will have different ways of learning.”
Nazlee said it was important for youth to immerse themselves in learning using newspapers so that they had exposure to various learning materials.
“We leave it to NSTP to provide us quality content to shape and nurture the minds of our young generation,” he said.
On helping children of Armed Forces members, he said, it was part of their corporate social responsibility programme.
He said they also had Yayasan Warisan Perajurit, a foundation established by LTAT to provide scholarship and assistance to the children.
Nazlee hoped that this initiative would benefit students and enable them to do well in their studies.
“We need to be creative so that they will have high interest in learning.”
Among the primary schools that will benefit from the 2019 School Sponsorship Programme are SK Kem Terendak 1, SK Kem Gerakhas, SK Pengkalan Tentera Darat, SK Anak-Anak Angkatan Tentera and SK Pangkalan TLDM 1.
Meanwhile, the secondary schools are SMK Jitra, SMK Sultan Yahya Petra 1, SMK Padang Tembak, SMK Kampong Kastam and SMK Pangkalan TLDM.