KUALA LUMPUR: The students and teachers of the courses under the Genius Remaja programme always look forward to seeing each other for the 10 hours of lessons at the weekend.
Cake and pastry teacher, Nur Aliya Md Zin, said her role doesn’t just entail training, but also instilling positive values, and unearthing the potential and talent of each student.
“They have plenty of talent and we just help hone it to an advanced level.
“We see the teenagers with potential and help the ones who are struggling. There’s always a positive outcome. For instance, out of 10 students, there may be five who will be able to make saleable cakes, pastries and biscuits,” she said.
Music and vocal teacher, Shahrol Bahri Shaarani, believes there are many talented people in his class.
“They have good voices but they don’t have the chance to develop their talent because they sometimes face financial constraints. As teachers, we help show them the way,” he said.
A safe space
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FSSK) Teen Empowerment Centre (Perkasa) chief, Dr Nasrudin Subhi, said the GENIUS Remaja programme has positively impacted at-risk B40 teenagers, particularly those from the people’s housing project (PPR).
“The PPR area is rather cramped and doesn’t provide enough opportunities for teenagers. We offer those opportunities here,” he said, referring to the GENIUS Remaja community centres that have been set up at PPR Seri Pantai, PPR Pantai Ria, PPA (public housing project) Desa Rejang and PPR Kg Muhibah in Kuala Lumpur.
He said the community centres provide space and safety, and solve the problem of transportation because the teenagers simply have to come down from their units or cross over from their block.
He said that providing a negative energy-free environment and a conducive place for activities at the weekend was in fact the main objective of the programme.
Programme success
Since the programme started 11 years ago, 6,798 at-risk teenagers (aged 13 - 19) from the B40 group have enrolled in the cake and pastry baking, music and vocal development, photography, make-up and button badge making courses offered.
Dr Nasrudin said based on a study in 2019 on the improvement in the life of the programme’s participants, almost 60 percent had gone on to further their studies at institutions of higher learning like Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), around 27 percent pursued entrepreneurship while the rest joined the workforce.
He finds the programme a big success because participants have become agents of change and are a good influence on the new crop of participants.
He also noted that some of the participants went into business with the skills they acquired.
“For example, since 2017 and every Hari Raya, the cake and pastry students would come together to create biscuit hampers for sale. What is even more significant is that 12 alumni have joined as GENIUS Remaja programme teachers,” he said.
2021 is the year of expansion
Dr Nasrudin said that despite being introduced in 2010, the Genius Remaja programme is not well known, but change is coming.
The Ministy of Education’s GENIUS division and UKM’s Perkasa are working on attracting more involvement from organisations to further bolster the programme.
“In 2021, we launched the Kempen Impian Remaja (teen ambition campaign) to improve support for the development of at-risk B40 teens. The aim is to create a special platform for government, corporate and community collaboration,” he said.
Collaborators currently include EXIM Bank, Atomy Malaysia, Malaysian Timber Council , Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Central i-City shopping centre, Hartamas Shopping Centre and Topaz Care Sdn Bhd.
Besides this, Perkasa organised a Genius Remaja virtual photo exhibition in February to showcase the talent of PPR participants.
Dr Nasrudin said another Genius Remaja community centre is also in the pipeline and is working with Kuala Lumpur City Hall to identify an ideal PPR.
He welcomes more collaborators to help Perkasa implement the Genius Remaja programme in other states, Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) areas and the interiors. - Bernama
