Cooking and sewing their way to become better students

 

Hamidi Mookkaiyah Abdullah says food baskets were a temporary solution and came up with an alternative to help B40 families by providing education for their children.

PETALING JAYA: Basic life skills such as cooking, folding clothes and sewing, all taught in English, are part of a volunteer effort to help schoolchildren whose school studies were disrupted by two years of Covid-19 lockdowns.

Twenty primary schoolchildren from underserved communities are at the core of an effort to build up enthusiasm for education among these children.

The basic life skills are taught in English to help improve their language skills, says former teacher Hamidi Mookkaiyah Abdullah, who started the Foundation in Literacy Project.

“It’s important to motivate these students first and once they have self-confidence, it will be an easier transition for them to focus on their academic studies,” he told FMT.

“We also provide a platform for these children to play sports such as hockey. They also get free breakfast and lunch,” he said.

The programme began last weekend and will last for nine weeks, he said.

Parents were in attendance at the launch of the Foundation in Literacy Project event last Saturday.

Hamidi, 63, said he was aghast at how the pandemic ravished the livelihoods of many, especially those in the B40 (lowest-income) group.

He passed the hat around among friends seeking just RM20 from each to help these families.

“To my surprise, within 10 days I managed to collect RM9,000 from teachers, former students, friends and family,” he said.

“I only knew a few families that needed help but with the extra money, there was more that could be done to help this group,” he said, having distributed 80 food baskets to the needy.

However, Hamidi realised that giving food baskets was only a temporary solution and came up with an alternative to help B40 children.

“The only way for them to get out of the poverty cycle is through education for their children,” he told FMT. He wanted to use his skills to create a platform to motivate children and build self-esteem after they lost two years of their education due to the pandemic.

So Hamidi gathered 16 retired teachers as volunteers and started what has become the Foundation in Literacy Project.

20 pupils are enrolled in this pilot programme at Simpang Lima Tamil primary school.

The 20 children in his group are from Standard Four as his team’s long-term goal was to work with them for two years before they go to secondary school.

“Once they are motivated, our plan is to move on to academic subjects and teach them English, mathematics and science. This will help them catch up before moving on to secondary school.

“As a teacher, I want to see these children be successful in life,” he said.

Hamidi saw this programme as a possible stepping stone to solving the problem of dropouts in schools, as such a platform would help students create their own goals in life.

It would also benefit the underserved communities as they did not have time to focus on their children since they were eking out a hand-to-mouth living.

“We try to create a conducive environment for the children so that they know they are loved. According to some teachers, many of them have never been hugged as many parents are just too focused on their livelihood,” he said.

Hamidi said his team was open to expanding the programme provided they had enough manpower and funding.

“If we can get funding, we would not mind opening another class for students. Also, we welcome teachers who want to volunteer in this programme,” he said. - FMT