Upscaling Opportunities for Students by Enhancing English Skills

THE PROBLEM

One of the most highlighted importance of raising the quality of education by the general public is communication skills among secondary students. There are still some 150,000 students who are unable to read and write, some even after they are preparing to sit for the Form 3 examinations, Pentaksiran Tingkatan Tiga (PT3). Given that our primary and lower secondary school enrollment accounted for only 4.4 million students, that's a very significant 3.6% illiteracy level. One of the most highlighted importance of raising the quality of education by the general public is communication skills among secondary students. The lack of which, will have long term consequences on the employability of students.

In a section distributed in The Edge, Nor Zahidi Alias, the chief economist at Malaysian Rating Corp Bhd, referred to poor English capability as one of the main factors behind joblessness which has increased over the years. On top of that, in the Salary Surveys 2016 released by the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), it was discovered that over 90% of respondents showed the requirement for improvement on their English capability in order to be employable. The executive director of MEF, Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan has commented that some undergraduates are unable to develop correct sentences nor pass on the message in a discussion. Moreover, Malaysia has fallen four places, sliding from the 22nd position to 26th, in 2019’s annual Education First (EF).

THE SOLUTION

Speak Up, in short, is a six week social project started by AIESEC in Malaysia in Janaury 2015. Speak Up is focused on the social issues of low English literacy rate among students as well as integration of STEM education in the youth. Due to the current issues of Covid-19, the project will be carried out physically in January 2021, while virtual activities will be planned for August 2020 for SMK USJ 23, a government secondary school in Subang Jaya.

AIESEC in Sunway will be providing weekly workshops to government secondary school students which would first aim to fcous on public speaking and the second batch of workshops focus on STEM education. the workshops would be executed by volunteers whom AIESEC has recrutied from all around the world. The breakdown of the activities are as below:

Week 1

Activities

• Ice Breaking Games
• Asking Question & Request for Clarifications
• Sharing Sessions

Purpose

• To evaluate the students’ English proficiency level
• To evaluate the students’ confidence level in speaking English
• To require students to communicate with us in English

Week 2, 3, 4

Activities

• Educating students on public speaking skills (body language, facial expressions, tone, etc)
• Encouraging students to generate and express their own thoughts and opinions  
• Carrying out simple science and technology activities with students to provide the practical hands on experiences
• Learning and development on how STEM is able to change the world and how students can play a part

Week 5

Activities

• Public speaking competition
  • Students will compete with other students on public speaking based on a given topic and the best speaker will be awarded with prizes
• STEM exhibition
  • Students are able to showcase results of a simple research and activity that they carried out, and learn to effectively communicate with other students on their findings

Purpose

• To evaluate the effectiveness of the workshop throughout weeks 1 to 4
• To foster healthy competition amongst students
• To provide them real-life communication skills to prepare them for the task force

THE IMPACT

Speak Up has currently been carried out in two schools int he past and have impacted almost 100 students in total. At the end of the six weeks of the project, many students and teachers have noticed the change in English proficiency within the students. They have shown their support for the project after seeing the results and positive impact towards the students. With your support, we are aiming to be able to carry out our project in more schools and have more activities to further amplify our reach and impact.

Many people mistakenly think that public speaking only involves formal situations in which a speaker is ‘on stage’ in front of a large audience. Whether you’re speaking in public to a large audience or in more intimate contexts with a small audience, the same skills are needed. Its objectives may include educating entertaining or influencing listeners.

The importance of public speaking cannot be overstated. Over the years, public speaking has played a major role in education, government, and business. The ability to move people via communication, specifically through speech, is the ability to transform and change people’s opinions on certain ideas. It allows youth to be part of movements, start new innovations and advocate for change in society!

Benefits of public speaking;

• Self-empowerment
• Develops leadership skills
• Strengthens critical thinking skills

Incorporating exchange participants from the international community, our curriculum emphasizes reading, writing and speaking, which are invaluable skills expected of the quintessential modern workforce. These skills will not only increase the employability rate of our local talents but also allow them to participate in global discussions as English is the language of the media.

Utilizing group activities, our project will also foster participants’ soft skills such as:

• Teamwork
• Interpersonal skills
• Leadership
• Problem-solving

Goal Breakdown

Goal 1 - Workshops and Action Initiatives. Amount Needed: MYR4,000.00

Goal 2 - Transportation. Amount Needed: MYR600.00

Goal 3 - Operation Costs. Amount Needed: MYR400.00

Contribute NOW to provide more opportunities for secondary school students! Every sen counts.