PETALING JAYA, March 30 (Bernama) — RYTHM Foundation (RYTHM) and PINTAR Foundation (PINTAR) have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to empower B40 female students by implementing the Maharani Schools Programme (MSP) in national secondary schools.
The MoU took place via a virtual signing ceremony between RYTHM Chairperson Datin Sri Umayal Eswaran and PINTAR Board of Trustees member Datuk Dr Mary Yap Kain Ching, according to a statement issued here today.
MSP is the extension of the Maharani Programme which provides adolescent girls access to education opportunities, skills development and personal growth, realising their potential to rise above their cycle of poverty and take charge of their lives.
“This is what our programme was designed to do. We look at girls and young women from marginalised communities and enhance their education experience by giving them the tools to develop into con?dent, responsible women,” said Umayal.
Yap, meanwhile, also expects the programme to bring success while highlighting that women’s empowerment is essential to achieving gender equality.
“My message to all the girls and women in Malaysia is you are capable, valuable and powerful and you deserve every opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your dreams,” she said.
About 40 students were chosen for this programme and they are from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Gombak Setia in Gombak, SMK Bandar Rinching in Hulu Langat and SMK Batu Unjur, SMK Tengku Idris Shah and SMK Tengku Ampuan Jemaah, all in Klang.
The students will be coached for a period of four years.
The MSP incorporates modules that focus on gender equality, sexual and reproductive health, ethnicity and culture, physical and spiritual wellness, academic support, counselling as well as career guidance by 20 trainers from PINTAR, with the trainers themselves coached by RYTHM.
Since 2010, the Maharani programme has touched the lives of nearly 8,000 adolescent girls and young women from various schools across Malaysia.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency
