KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 (Bernama) -- The Financial Industry Collective Outreach (FINCO), an Outreach Partner under the
Highly Immersive Programme (HIP) launched its inaugural HIP FINCO National Competition for English Language Teachers and Students recently. FINCO, which is a collaboration between all financial institutions in Malaysia with the guidance of Bank Negara Malaysia, launched the competition to recognise the efforts of English teachers and students during this year’s school closures.
The Highly Immersive Programme (HIP) is a programme under the MBMMBI policy initiated by the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MoE). HIP aims to create a language-rich environment in schools to support students’ learning of the English language. Public-Private Partnerships and community involvement play an essential role in supporting the programme. HIP Outreach Partners like FINCO have been effectively assisting the MoE to provide students with access to innovative English language learning activities. The continuous support from these Outreach Partners is crucial in developing strategic partnerships that can strengthen the role placed by the community in helping raise the standards of English language. To date 10,000 schools under the MoE have implemented the HIP including Institutions of Teacher Education and Vocational Colleges. The English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC), under the MoE, acts as the lead agency for the implementation of the HIP.
The HIP FINCO National English Language Competition for Teachers and Students aims to recognise the efforts made by primary school English language teachers and students who went above and beyond to continue the teaching and learning of English during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The competition forms part of a long-term commitment by the MoE and FINCO to support students to improve their English language proficiency, which is one of FINCO’s four strategic pillars.
The competition is open to all English language primary school teachers and students in Year 4, 5 and 6 in government schools. Teachers are required to submit lesson entries that showcase effective practices in home-based learning which assisted their teaching during the MCO period. Students are required to share examples of how they continued learning English, maintained their well-being or helped their communities during the school closures. Participation in this competition will also entitle students who meet the stated criteria to collect marks as part of their
Pentaksiran Aktiviti Jasmani, Sukan dan Kokurikulum (PAJSK), an initiative under the Co-curricular Sports and Arts Division, MoE. Cash prizes as well as grants provided by FINCO await winners and runners-up of the competition.
The MoE welcomes the collaboration with FINCO as an Outreach Partner under the HIP and hopes that teachers and students will actively participate in this competition and strengthen their use of the English language.
Clare Walker, CEO of FINCO, said “The sudden closure of schools during the MCO presented great challenges in adopting new approaches to teaching and learning. This required much effort and innovation by both teachers and students. We want to celebrate these efforts and share best practices of home-based learning within the Malaysian context to better prepare ourselves for potential changes in education.”
The closing date for applications for the HIP FINCO National English Language Competition for Teachers and Students is 22 October 2020. Further details regarding the competition can be accessed here:
https://www.finco.my/for-teachers/ and
https://www.finco.my/for-students About the Financial Industry Collective OutreachThe Financial Industry Collective Outreach (FINCO) is a collaborative initiative pioneered by all financial institutions in Malaysia with the guidance of Bank Negara Malaysia to provide underprivileged children and youth with the guidance and educational tools they need to achieve their life goals.
FINCO seeks to achieve these objectives through the collective development of flagship programmes in English Proficiency and Life Aspiration, as well as coordinated efforts on Financial Literacy and Disaster Relief and shared programmes supported by individual financial institutions.
SOURCE : AmBank Group 
