Right remedy for language

Realising the role of English as the global lingua franca, a Klang hospital has come up with the right ‘prescription’ – sponsoring NiE pullouts to selected schools.

APART from being committed to healthcare services, Sri Kota Specialist Medical Centre recognises the importance of education by extending their corporate social responsibility to schools.

The hospital recently sponsored 10,000 copies of The Star’s Newspaper-in-Education (NiE) pullout to five schools – SJK(C) Hin Hua, SK Ladang Batu Ampat, SMK ACS, SMK Convent and SMK La Salle, all in Klang.

The 12-page education pullout is packed with fun, hands-on language learning activities for the classroom.

A ceremony was held at SMK Convent to officiate the sponsorship. Sri Kota Specialist Medical Centre hospital director Tan Suet Guan recounted how a student there had earlier expressed gratitude for the education resource that the hospital had sponsored.

Also present were school principal Lee Poh Eng, senior assistant (student affairs) Norli Mokhtar, senior assistant (administration) Rohaidah Tarmidi, the hospital’s marketing and public relations head Gan Kah Long and school senior assistant (afternoon session) Renuka Viswanathan.

“The student told me that she loved the NiE pullout and that she gained a lot of knowledge from reading the newspaper,” said a delighted Tan.

“The young generation is very important to us. Some of them will become future doctors and pharmacists. In order to help young ones expand their knowledge and give them more confidence to pursue a professional career, language plays a crucial role,” she added.

Viswanathan, who started incorporating newspapers into her teaching 20 years ago, is well-versed in utilising NiE in her English lessons.

“Students find NiE very interesting. They look forward to getting the newspapers.”

“The newspaper is not just a resource that can be used for English. It goes across the curriculum – it can be used for other subjects like geography and history. Students gain a lot of knowledge from the newspaper,” she added.

Tan (third from right) hands over sponsored copies of the newspaper to Lee (third from left). With them are (from left) Norli Mokhtar, Rohaidah, Gan and Viswanathan.