MAXIS & THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION PARTNER FOR FREE ONLINE EDUCATION SERVICE FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MALAYSIA

Flagship education service from Maxis targets to deliver interactive online learning to 2,300 secondary schools

Kuala Lumpur, 21 November 2011

Malaysia’s leading integrated communications service provider, Maxis Berhad (Maxis), and the Ministry of Education (MOE), have embarked on a smart partnership to support the government’s continuous initiative to increase ICT usage in schools through creative learning. Through this partnership, Maxis will provide secondary schools with free access to Maxis’ flagship education service leveraging on readily available school ICT infrastructure. The service is an alternative or supplementary online learning service which enriches the learning experience for students through encouraging different learning styles. Its content is based on the official education curriculum. Content and delivery of Maxis’ new service is adaptive to student need, and is continuously moulded to deliver an innovative educational experience.

The partnership between Maxis and MOE was initiated at an inaugural three-day workshop in Kuala Lumpur recently, which was attended by 120 principals and teachers from 30 schools. During the workshop, teachers and principals experienced and explored Maxis’ learning solution and were shown ways to integrate it into their day-to-day teaching and learning programmes. To create more excitement around the service, Maxis introduced a challenge for participants, divided into two categories, the school challenge and student challenge. The challenge, scheduled to end on 1 March 2012, will see winning schools presented with prizes worth up to RM10,000 per school and RM1,000 per student.
A group photograph of about 120 principals and teachers from 30 schools who attended the workshop.

Maxis will work closely with MOE to next implement this programme in 70 schools, bringing the number to 100 schools in total. Eventually, Maxis intends to extend the service to 2300 schools nationwide.

Maxis’ Chief Executive Officer Sandip Das said, “Maxis’ new online learning service is a crucial part of our journey towards offering our customers integrated communications services. Maxis will continue to innovate and invest in the quality of life by providing connectivity and life services such as education to all. It is almost magical to see how the net supported by telecom access is changing lives. This new service provides students with an experiential and exploratory method of learning, which is accessible for free online. We hope that it will make learning more impactful and enjoyable for students. With this initiative, we are pleased to support government efforts in capacity building, helping to develop a future society that is technologically literate, dynamic and innovative.”

Added T Kugan, Maxis’ Vice President and Head of Product, Devices and Innovation: “We’ve done our very best to integrate the platforms and communications technologies which will make a student’s life in the education system more rewarding, more relevant to his long term needs, and simply more engaging in each moment that he is spending with it. As a longtime government partner in pioneering local content creation and in bridging the digital divide through ICT training in rural areas, we are pleased to continue to support public education with a platform that will address the growing needs of all Malaysian youths in the crucial stage of secondary schooling.”

The smart partnership between Maxis and MOE marks another milestone in a series of corporate responsibility initiatives undertaken by Maxis. Since 2002, Maxis has worked closely with MOE in the Bridging Communities programme, providing Malaysians from under-served areas with access to the Internet and exposing communities to Internet tools, thereby lowering the barriers to education, information, health, trade and other similar services. Furthermore, through its flagship Maxis Cyberkids Camp project, Maxis has touched approximately 8,500 students and teachers from about 1,500 schools; equipping them with technological skills to adapt to a rapidly evolving world.