Committed to education for all by bridging the digital divide
Astro Kasih, the CSR arm of Astro, has contributed a total of 30 laptops to 3 schools in remote areas in Sabah and Sarawak, as part of its key pillar of lifelong learning to make education accessible for students nationwide.
This initiative, aimed at bridging the digital divide, enables teachers and students in SK Magandai (Kota Marudu, Sabah), SK Malinsau (Ranau, Sabah) and SK Sungai Paku (Kapit, Sarawak) to access online education content amid disruption in classroom learning brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tammy Toh, Director, Group Marketing and Communications of Astro said: “Astro has always been advocating for equal access to education for all, having invested RM120 million in learning content in the past 10 years. Astro Tutor TV’s 3 syllabus-based channels serve relevant content such as SMK: Study Squad, Pelan A+ SPM, Misi Studi, Top Tutor and TV Pendidikan, most of which is now accessible through our Upped website, a complimentary online learning portal that houses hundreds of education videos besides other fun learning STEM programmes such as Dekoded and Stemsasi. Through our Kampus Astro programme, we provided Astro decoders and TV sets to over 10,500 government schools and teacher activity centres. With this donation, we hope the teachers and students in these schools will be able to use laptops to access online learning content to help students to keep learning.”
Jairon bin Maiba, Headmaster of SK Magandai said: “We are thankful for Astro’s donation of laptops, which came at an opportune time. In rural areas, accessibility is one of our major limitations as our students lack the necessary tools for e-learning. We are grateful that the students now have the tools to access online education content.”
Timbang anak Tuan, Headmaster of SK Sungai Paku said: “Our teachers are excited with the laptops as they can now introduce online and interactive education content in their teaching. They look forward to new ways of making learning more engaging for the students.”
Jamain B. Simban @ Abd. Halim, Headmaster of SK Malinsau said: “Our teachers intend to make use of the laptops to help our students to catch up on their studies when they return to classroom after the current MCO.”
Astro Kasih has been supporting SK Magandai, SK Sungai Paku and SK Malinsau since 2012 with initiatives such as building and maintaining the schools’ hostels, providing complimentary Kampus Astro learning system, hosting exam revision workshops, as well as community work such as health examinations. During the pandemic, Astro Kasih distributed revision books to students to help them get on track with their studies despite staying at home, as well as contributed food supplies and face masks to 100 families in the vicinity of SK Malinsau who faced supply shortages.
