RCE Greater Gombak - 2020

Whole Community Transformation Through ‘Feed to Educate’
CSV
Basic Information
Title of project : 
Whole Community Transformation Through ‘Feed to Educate’
Submitting RCE: 
RCE Greater Gombak
Contributing organization(s) : 
1. SK Simpang Ampat
2. SK Padang Keria
3. SK Seberang Ramai
4. Mercy Mission Malaysia
5. LeapEd Services
6. MAIPS
7. Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia
Focal point(s) and affiliation(s)
Name: 
ASSOC. PROF. ZAINAL ABIDIN SANUSI
Organizational Affiliation: 
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA
E-mail: 
zainalsanusi@iium.edu.my
Format of project: 
Group projects, PowerPoint, Foster Family Stay
Language of project: 
Malay
Date of submission:
Friday, October 30, 2020
Web link: 
https://rce2g.iium.edu.my/whole-community-transformation-through-feed-to-educate/?preview_id=1610&preview_nonce=b27a874e7e&preview=true
Additional resources: 
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1OcC0GERUQu83DNRl3sVD9DL2u0Qgp6h2?usp=sharing
Does this project link to any education and/or sustainable development policy or policies?: 
Yes
Falsafah Pendidikan Kebangsaan
At what level is the policy operating?: 
National
Geographical & Education Information
Region: 
Asia-Pacific
Country: 
Malaysia
Location(s): 
Perlis
Address of focal point institution for project: 
Sejahtera Centre for Sustainability and Humanity
Secretariat, RCE Greater Gombak
International Islamic University Malaysia
Jalan Gombak, 53100
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Ecosystem(s):

Urban Poor
Target Audience:
Community, Primary
Socioeconomic and environmental characteristics of the area : 
Perlis is the smallest state in Malaysia with a population of 254400. With its western coastline bordering Straits of Malacca, fishing serves as a main source of income for a large group of residents, apart from office work and industrial work. The unemployment rate is 3.3% which is similar as Malaysia population in general. Perlis is special in that it is not just located at the coastline, it also harbours paddy fields which is a source of staple food in Malaysia i.e rice. There are 74 public primary schools with around 22950 students in Perlis.
Description of sustainable development challenge(s) in the area the project addresses: 
Perlis is considered a less developed state with around 30,900 people categorized as the B40 (household income less than RM3000) and poverty rate of 0.2% according to the Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister's Department in 2014. Although the poverty rate seems low, the household income does not reflect the overall household poverty of the local community. Poverty is not solely an economic challenge as it carries with it social challenges such as access to education and a younger age of joining workforce. Inevitably, health and wellbeing is affected due to affordability issues and limited access to healthcare services
Contents
Status: 
Ongoing
Period: 
November, 2019
Rationale: 
Children from low-income families are at higher risk of dropping out of school and forced to give up on education and absorbed into the workforce to fulfill the survival needs. Feed to Educate is a long term Food Aid Program to help the family in need with the condition that the caretakers need to ensure the attendance of the children to school. Failure to do so will result in discontinuation of the help received. In line with SDG 1 which main concerns is poverty eradication, this program is based on the aspiration that education is the solution for getting out of poverty. By providing food assistance, it will not just reduce the financial burden, but facilitate proper nutrition and growth of the children and ultimately help them to focus on their study.
IIUM becomes a team player in this programme through research and mapping of sociodemographic profiling of the recipients to ensure a more holistic approach to the issue. LeapEd Services contributed in transforming the school into Trust School and improves its curriculum and teaching force. Fundings are from Islamic Council of Perlis. This programme is a showcase of multi stakeholders collaboration in the effort to eradicate poverty on the ground.
Objectives: 
Initially, the objective was providing monthly food assistance to children of needy so that they could stay in education. The programme has now moved beyond merely providing long-term relief to include research-led community engagement by the university students and capacity building for the teachers. The research mainly aims to develop a socio-economic profiling of the recipients to ensure a more holistic view of the whole situation. In a nutshell, it now aims to eradicate poverty in line with SDG 1 by empowering the parents to be financially independent and enabling the students to access quality education delivered by a credible teaching team.
Activities and/or practices employed: 
The monthly food assistance is distributed by Mercy Mission Malaysia with the help of the schools. School managements are responsible for monitoring the attendance and the eligibility of recipients. University students from IIUM act as facilitators in student enhancement programs in school and at the same time stay with the foster family i.e family of the recipient. During the stay, they collected data for the purpose of sociodemographic profiling. The analyzed data or profiling was then used to plan capacity building programs for the parents and serves as a basis for inviting other stakeholders in the collaboration. LeadEd Services leads the transformation of the schools by improving the teaching techniques of the teachers to ensure best delivery.
Size of academic audience: 
300
Results: 
The impact of the whole project is beyond what numbers could capture. Apart from the increase in percentage of attendance to school from 86% to 98%, and academic performance increase of 4.38%, the parents’ and students’ attitude towards education is the real gem gained from this project. This is captured during the engagement session with the parents conducted by the IIUM team, where most parents voice out their concern and dream to continue providing education for the children. Two students were able to get 6As in the final exams, while those who used to score 6E managed to perform better during the final exams. Another heartwarming findings during the research-led community engagement is the spirit and motivation portrayed by the parents to increase their earning and not just depending on the assistance.
Lessons learned: 
The impact of the whole project is beyond what numbers could capture. Apart from the increase in percentage of attendance to school from 86% to 98%, and academic performance increase of 4.38%, the parents’ and students’ attitude towards education is the real gem gained from this project. This is captured during the engagement session with the parents conducted by the IIUM team, where most parents voice out their concern and dream to continue providing education for the children. Two students were able to get 6As in the final exams, while those who used to score 6E managed to perform better during the final exams. Another heartwarming findings during the research-led community engagement is the spirit and motivation portrayed by the parents to increase their earning and not just depending on the assistance.
Key messages: 
Feed to Educate has changed the life of more than 300 students since its noble establishment by providing food assistance as a means to facilitate their study. Attendance to school has remarkably increased from 86% to 98% and academic performance increase by 4.38%.
Relationship to other RCE activities: 
NIL
Funding: 
The fundings are mainly from public donation to Mercy Mission Malaysia specifically for this program and from the local government agencies, Islamic Council of Perlis.

Pictures:

File Name Caption for picture Photo Credit
Image icon Charity Right 2.jpg (87.76 KB) Giving out aid to those in need Charity Right
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
(https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs) and other themes of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
SDG 1 - End poverty in all its forms everywhere 
Direct
SDG 2 - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture 
Indirect
SDG 3 - Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages 
Indirect
SDG 4 - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 
Indirect
Theme
Traditional Knowledge  
Indirect
Agriculture 
Indirect
Arts 
Indirect
ESD for 2030-Priority Action Areas
Priority Action Area 2 - Transforming learning and training environments 
state: 
Direct
Priority Action Area 3 - Developing capacities of educators and trainers 
state: 
Indirect
Priority Action Area 4 - Mobilizing youth 
state: 
Direct
Update: 
No