Kuala Lumpur, 22 December 2017 – In the interior of Kuching, Sarawak, 78 wide-eyed children at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Stass are anxiously waiting for schooling items to be handed to them courtesy of Yayasan Sime Darby’s (YSD)’s Back to School programme.

Indeed for this school in the district of Bau, support has never before been given to deserving children, making this a special occasion to celebrate.  

SK Stass Principal Mr Mindel Nyaku said the school has never received any kind of assistance from corporate bodies prior to YSD’s Back to School programme.  

"We really appreciate the support given to us by YSD. I am sure the children and their families are thankful for all the schooling items that have been given to them as they are most in need of it," he said during his speech at an event to distribute the items to students. 

SK Stass was among six rural schools in Bau, Sarawak which received assistance under the Back to School programme, with a total of 554 primary school children from the schools receiving supplies for next year’s school year. 

The YSD Back to School programme, which began in 2013, aims to alleviate the financial burden of families with household incomes below RM3,000 a month by providing school supplies for their children. The items include school uniforms, school bags, stationery, shoes, socks and pencil cases. 

Since the programme’s inception, YSD has spent a total of RM1.58 million on school supplies to assist a total of 14,848 students nationwide.  

This year, YSD distributed supplies to 3,895 students in Sabah, Sarawak, Kedah, Perak, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu.  

YSD Chief Executive Officer Puan Hajjah Yatela Zainal Abidin said the Foundation’s annual assistance for the underprivileged across the nation seeks to stress the importance of education for children.  

"We believe that economic disparity and social deprivation should never be determining factors in a child’s access to education. Therefore, we strive to close these gaps by strategically working with our various partners who have the same objectives as us.  

"Children deserve equal opportunity to quality education, and we believe that the first step towards this is by providing assistance to underprivileged children by giving them the important school supplies they need, which are taken for granted by many," she added. 

YSD had also collaborated with the Malaysian AIDS Foundation (MAF) and their partner organisations to distribute schooling items to underprivileged children in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia in conjunction with the MAF’s National World AIDS Day 2017 celebration. A total of 250 children, who are beneficiaries of the MAF shelter homes programme, received the assistance. 

The partner organisations under MAF’s shelter homes programmes are Persatuan Perantaraan Pesakit Kelantan (SAHABAT), Pertubuhan Komuniti CAKNA Terengganu (KCT), Persatuan Kebajikan Karisma Malaysia (KARISMA) and Drugs Intervention Community Malaysia (DICM).  

Long term partners of the Back to School programme include the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu (RCKK) and the Rotary Club of Kuching Central (RCKC), with whom YSD has worked with since the inception of the programme.  

During distribution of items at three out of 17 schools assisted in Kinabatangan, Sabah, Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) Education Officer Clarice Kelly Samih and YSD staff presented a series of talks on animal conservation to educate students about wildlife conservation and endangered animals.  

DGFC is a long-term partner of YSD, spearheading research on the proboscis monkey, clouded leopard and Bornean banteng with the aim of producing state action plans for the species’ conservation. 

The Back to School programme falls under YSD’s Community & Health pillar.  

Since 2009, YSD has committed a total of RM138.6 million towards initiatives that support community-based programmes and sustainable initiatives to promote the well-being and health of disadvantaged people, reduce socio-economic disparities and enhance the welfare of neglected children and senior citizens, vulnerable women, people with disabilities and other marginalised groups.