Hi folks!
What is the routine like for your school-going children?
For my children, they would wake up by 7am to get themselves
ready for daycare. As for me I would wake up earlier to prepare their lunch to
be packed along with their heavy backpack to eat at the daycare after their
tuition session.
Pretty hectic life I must say, coming from a background
where I don’t go for any tuition or any enrichment classes when I was young.
I wonder, given a choice (if my parents could afford then),
will I choose to go for tuition classes and other enrichment classes like
swimming, ballet, etc.? I might opt for the latter but not tuition classes
which to me is filled with jam-packed children trying to digest whatever their
tired mind and body could absorb with the chattering of other 50+ students in
the background.
Back to school routine, even though I felt my kids live a
rather hectic lifestyle, at least they have a chance of education. As what some
of us might be aware, there are many parents whose main concern is whether
there are food on the table for the next meal. What more to mention about
getting good education for their children.
I remembered when I was young, even though we don’t come
from a well-to-do family, my parents always make sure I go to school not with
an empty stomach. Breakfast is very important part of our life since young.
Thus even up till now, I had to have my breakfast before I start my dad.
Otherwise I felt something is missing and I practically couldn’t function.
Thus, I would always try to ensure my children have some nutritious
meal before they start their day. I would make them some drinks like Horlicks or
oats to go with bread or buns. When they are running out of time especially on
days they woke up late, I would usually pack something for them to eat in the
car as it takes almost 20 minutes to get to their tuition center. I enjoy the moment I have in the car with my
children as they talk about what’s going on in their life, their friends and
their school.
From the way they described, what they loved most about
school is their friends and the new things they learnt at school excluding the
homework and exams …oh well…who loves that :P
One of their dreams for the future is to have no "homework" (gosh what a dream!)...and when they
grow up they like to stay with us. Another dream KY is having is to be a police officer so that she could catch all the thieves and bad guys. No matter what their choice is, I hope they
will lead a meaningful and purposeful life and having access to the best and
effective education is important foundation for their future.
Having shared this, I would like to share with you on the Horlicks
School Journey Initiative.
Education plays a major role
in how a person’s life will turn out. Unfortunately, many children around the
world have very little access to education.
- For some children
the journey is often too demanding, denying them of education altogether, and
the chance to realise their full potential.
- One of the main
barriers to basic education is a lack of physical access, with children
hampered by difficult or even impossible journeys.
It is estimated that 1 in 25
Malaysian children are out of school and do not have access to primary
education.
- Malaysia has seen
many successes in primary education, and is well on the way to achieving
universal primary education with 96 per cent of girls and boys enrolled in
school1.
However, there are still a vast number of children who remain out of school,
many of whom live in remote rural areas, far from the nearest school.
- The Malaysian
Government has committed to improving access to education to those children
that are still out of school, with a specific focus on assisting children in
the bottom 40 per cent of households.
The Horlicks School
Journey Initiative aims to champion the cause of addressing children’s
lack of access to education.
Horlicks
believes that every child, no matter where they are in the world, is born
with unique talents and abilities. By nourishing their potential, they will
have a better chance of living a self-reliant and fulfilling life.
- By partnering
with NGO partners, they aim to improve children’s journeys to school through
practical interventions and solutions that are not only sustainable, but are
also scaleable to enable children in other communities to attend school.
- The initiative
was launched in Malaysia with longer term plans to introduce the Horlicks
School Journey Initiative in other countries where children face difficult
journeys to school.
Horlicks has partnered with
the Malaysia Association of Social Workers as part of the Horlicks School Journey Initiative, working
to ease the journey to school for Malaysian children who are currently not
receiving a formal education.
- The Malaysian
Association of Social Workers is a local organisation dedicated to helping the
most disadvantaged group in Malaysia, and on this initiative will work with
co-partners on-the-ground to implement the programme.
The partnership will focus on a
kick-off pilot programme to help children in Kampung Chuweh, Malaysia to
attend school.
- Currently, almost
none of the children in Kampung Chuweh are in formal education.
The
challenging geographical location of the community poses a major obstacle for
these children to attend the nearest school, which can only be reached by a 35
minute boat ride followed by a 15 minute car journey.
The Horlicks
School Journey Initiative will assist the community in a two-phased
approach:
- Phase one will
see teaching staff travelling to the Orang Asli community to provide children
with lessons to address their basic education needs through initiatives such as
the Play Group and Learning Centre. Askee, a teacher of Orang Asli origins has
been appointed to teach and equip the children of Kampung Chuweh. Additionally,
the programme is funding a boat dedicated to ferry Askee and children from the
neighbouring kampungs to these classes in Kampung Chuweh B.
- Phase two of the
programme will see the school boat take the children from their community to
the SK RPS Banun school in Gerik on a daily basis.
There is no quick
fix solution, but the Horlicks School Journey Initiative will work with
the community to understand and address their specific needs, and drive
sustainable change.
Through the Horlicks School
Journey Initiative they want to inspire and motivate communities across
Malaysia to do their best to support education for all Malaysian children.
- Horlicks is
committed to nourishing the potential of children around the world and to help
them achieve their aspirations.
- They do this by
providing science-based nutrition supporting growth. On a daily basis many
Malaysian mums choose Horlicks at breakfast time to get their children
power-packed for school. Through the Horlicks School Journey Initiative they also hope to support other Malaysian children, who may not have access to
education today, to get to school.
Now, learning about how difficult the other kids are facing to go to school, not even have proper breakfast makes me feel my children are indeed luckier in that sense.
Cheers to a better future for our next generation and have a nice weekend folks!
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