Hap Seng DCode program has trained 550 students
TAWAU: Forty students aged 13 to 15 and eight teachers from eight secondary schools here took part in a five-day Hap Seng Group DCode Pogramme Camp 12 at the sports complex hostel here from February 16.
The eight schools were SM Holy Trinity (M), SMK Kabota, SMK Kalabakan, SMK Merotai Besar, SMK Jalan Apas, SMK UmasUmas, SMK Pasir Putih, and SMK Wallace Bay.
The Corporate Social Responsibility director of Hap Seng Consolidated Berhad, Puan Sri Maimon Arif Patail said the Hap Seng Group D-Code programme had come a long way since they rolled out their Pilot Camp at Lau Gek Poh foundation hall here last May.
Initially, the programme was set out to enable the participants to learn coding with HTML, CSS and JavaScript to create websites using Raspberry Pi as a motherboard, recycled monitors and keyboards.
However, she said it was found that electric power supply and internet connection were more often unstable especially in the rural areas, which would obstruct the whole learning experience.
“It is important for us to ensure the objectives of Hap Seng Group D-Code are more impactful that is to act as a platform where the student could build confidence, promote logical thinking and enhance their problem solving skills as well as to cultivate leadership and good team traits.
“The participants are undergoing a Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) experience, which is in line with the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025.
“With the completion of Camp 12, Hap Seng D-Code programme has thus far trained 550 students to code. The entire programme, which forms part of Hap Seng Group's rural education capacity building, is aimed at reaching 1,000 students from 212 secondary schools in Sabah,” she pointed out.
A month after each camp, the students will be submitting their group projects and after every six camps, two teams will be selected to compete in the final camp this October in Kota Kinabalu.
The best two teams from the finals will be the winners of the programme. Winners will be rewarded with a three-day educational and technology visit to Kuala Lumpur in November 2016.
Hap Seng Group D-Code is coordinated by StartupMalaysia. org, an organization that spearheads programme and initiatives to uplift Malaysia's start-up ecosystem.
D-Code is also supported by key senior officials representing the relevant State Government agencies.
It is one of Hap Seng Group's community investment initiatives aimed at bringing about coding (programming language) literacy to rural lower secondary schools in Sabah.
Also present in the closing ceremony was the English Unit chief of District Education Department, Renaldo De Los Santos.