Through the Learn From Home (LFH) initiative, YTL Foundation, YES and FrogAsia delivered 800,000 mobile devices and SIM cards to school-going children from the B40 communities. With a free mobile device and free internet, the students could download Launchpad (formerly known as FrogPlay Mobile) which comprise over 1,400 lessons and quizzes designed based on Malaysia’s national syllabus. This enabled the students to continue with their studies despite school closures owing to the pandemic. This initiative would not have been possible or as impactful without our partners – Teach For Malaysia, Pelangi, CIMB Foundation and more.

The Learn From Home initiative received global recognition at the 2022 Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) Constellations Awards winning the People’s Choice Award. Winners in other categories included projects by the Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation and the United Nations Development Programme.

Following the success of Learn From Home, we chose to scale up the initiative and launch KelasKita – an online learning programme which enables education implementers to provide tuition, through volunteers, to children in the local communities across Malaysia. Together with Teach For Malaysia and FrogAsia, we developed the KelasKita Handbook to ensure implementers and volunteers know how to utilise the Frog VLE and online lessons, effectively. Whilst we are focused on providing tuition for core subjects such as Bahasa Melayu, English, Mathematics and Science, we also welcome volunteers who can tutor other subjects.

Over the years, we witnessed our 54C Learning Space (54C) children develop their creativity and confidence through the creative arts. However, the nationwide lockdowns meant that Leaps Academy was unable to conduct any art lessons in its community space. Hence, when the lockdowns were lifted and in-person classes were permitted, Leaps Academy collaborated with Tick-Tock Beats Music and Movement to run its first physical classes since 2020.

Furthermore, the Academy recently hosted a string of Christmas parties for the children of the underserved, refugee and B40 communities around Klang Valley. After two years of virtual Christmas parties, we were delighted to welcome the community back into our space.

Since 2016, 54C has supported several community-based schools in Klang Valley. Being community based, these schools struggle to retain their teachers. This is why we worked with Building Bridges Beyond Borders and Soroptimist International to bring in international volunteer teachers like Rachel Holden from the University of Bath. Through our collective effort, more than 75 students from four community-based schools have been able to continue learning.

Organised by PEMIMPIN GSL in partnership with YTL Foundation, the Malaysia Teacher Prize is the localised version of Varkey Foundation’s Global Teacher Prize. The first of its kind in Malaysia, MTP was established to recognise the most innovative educators in the country. Cikgu Anuthra Sirisena, a chemistry teacher at SMJK Chung Hwa in Tenom, Sabah was announced as the inaugural winner at our 25th anniversary dinner on 7 October. Cikgu Anuthra received RM50,000 for her innovative integration of technology and gamification in her classroom which has positively impacted her students and the community of Tenom.

If you know of a teacher who is deserving of this award, applications for the Malaysia Teacher Prize 2023 will open in the first quarter of the year.

Ruang KITA is a community space revived by YTL Foundation, Sentul Raya Sdn. Bhd., DBKL and PDRM in 2020, to breathe new life into the PPR Seri Perak community. Alongside the community, we introduced multiple community-based activities such as the Toy Library, free child development assessment, mental health training and a nutritional programme for pregnant women and their young children.

In conjunction with Children’s Day, we collaborated with Sentul Raya Sdn. Bhd., Polis Bantuan YTL and Humankind to celebrate the children of PPR Seri Perak and appreciate the community leaders who completed their one-year Psychological First Aid (PFA) training.

Ruang KITA is a community space revived by YTL Foundation, Sentul Raya Sdn. Bhd., DBKL and PDRM in 2020, to breathe new life into the PPR Seri Perak community. Alongside the community, we introduced multiple community-based activities such as the Toy Library, free child development assessment, mental health training and a nutritional programme for pregnant women and their young children.

In conjunction with Children’s Day, we collaborated with Sentul Raya Sdn. Bhd., Polis Bantuan YTL and Humankind to celebrate the children of PPR Seri Perak and appreciate the community leaders who completed their one-year Psychological First Aid (PFA) training.

PEMIMPIN GSL (PEMIMPIN) experienced great growth in 2022, with the launch of their third cohort of the PEMIMPIN GSL Fellowship Programme , the completion of four professional development programmes and the launch of the Malaysia Teacher Prize (MTP).

The Accelerated School Leaders Initiative (ASLI) for Orang Asli Schools in Perak is the first Fellowship Programme specifically designed to equip the school leaders of Sekolah Murid Orang Asli (SMOA) with the skills to empower their teachers and community as well as improve student outcomes. More than 3,000 school leaders including senior leaders, middle leaders and teachers from all over Malaysia, participated in the four professional development programmes.

This year also saw the successful launch of the inaugural Malaysia Teacher with over 821 applications this year. Organised to appreciate, celebrate and spotlight outstanding teachers in Malaysia, the Malaysia Teacher Prize is the first of its kind in Malaysia to recognise teachers on a national scale and to provide a platform for teachers to scale their best practices and create greater impact in their schools.

2022 has been an eventful year for Acumen Academy Malaysia (AAM). For the past 11 months, its 2022 Cohort embarked on a leadership journey that had them diving into each other’s life stories, exploring Adaptive Leadership and discovering new ways of storytelling to better mobilise their audience into meaningful action. In November, we celebrated all 10 Fellows who successfully transition into Foundry Fellows.

The 2020 and 2021 Cohorts organised retreats to rekindle their bond as Foundry Fellows. We also celebrated our 2020 Fellow, Ian Yee who won a US$50,000 grant for his social impact programme. The Foundry Fellows also met with Jacqueline Novogratz, the Founder of Acumen over a virtual conversation and in-person dinner which gave them the chance to draw on her experience and have conversations about leadership struggles.

Moreover, we hosted our inaugural summit which was attended by over 150 social impact makers and to wrap up 2022, we hosted our first in-person Selection Conference since 2019. During the conference, finalists for the Malaysia Acumen Fellows Cohort 2023 surprised us with their impactful elevator pitches and their determination to show up for one another throughout the conference. We are excited to announce the 2023 Cohort in mid-January 2023.

Indeed, 2022 was a momentous year for YTL Foundation and the communities we serve. The Foundation’s aspirations for 2023 is to expand our existing initiatives and create better opportunities to serve our students, educators, school leaders and social impact leaders. We do so with a clear purpose in mind – better societies through better education.