ONE bold idea can bowl you over quite easily. And that is what four youths have come up with as they embark on what may be a life-long pursuit to try and change the world.
They are carrying out their tasks and early results seem to suggest that success may not be far off. Their idea of changing the world is through education, an effort that is getting official support and endorsement.
A singer-songwriter, a budding movie-maker, a secondary school student and a business adviser make up the team, whose intention is to help change the destiny of troubled students.
Parents and teachers, especially, have been losing sleep trying to get wayward students to stay on track and score good grades in exams, so they can enter college and university.
Then comes a ray of light that may provide a solution to this issue. That light is from the four youths, whose mission is to intervene and get these students back on track.
It started with Heerraa. She was 15 when she encountered problems in her studies. She was a top student, an achiever in her class and widely-tipped to do well in life. But, somehow, there was a lack of focus and her studies suffered. But she was lucky. She realised that and took control of her situation. She met new people and discovered mentors who rectified her situation.
Heerraa is 19 now.
She said: “For a brief period, I saw no real reason for me to do well. I then thought that going to school was more to please my mum!”
Then what happened? How did you stop the rot and get back on track?
She said: “I was lucky because I met good people, who advised me on my studies. I then realised that going to school and doing well were for my own good.
“This realisation really helped me. I then met other individuals, and we thought we should get together to help other students who have similar problems with their studies. Hence, Ascendance!”
Ascendance is a small company undertaking small projects in the big and challenging field of education. The projects may appear small, but they can bring life-changing impact on students and their studies.
The others in the Ascendance team are just as young.
Sanadt is the only male. He’s waiting for his exam results and his passion is making movies and short videos — a budding movie-maker, really.
Then there’s Harsha, 16, who is taking her International General Certificate of Secondary Education (almost similar to the O Level) next year.
Managing Ascendance falls on the shoulders of 21-year-old Mathura, a business adviser who is also a junior partner in an accounting company.
They have a simple modus operandi. They did their research, talked to teachers, parents and fellow students, and pitched their idea to Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan.
Basically, they got approval to take one class (the top class) for the whole day and spend time talking to students. There were in-class activities, too. On that day, there wouldn’t be any lessons on geography or maths, or whatever that was on the timetable.
The Ascendance team spent the whole day trying to understand the students’ problems — an open dialogue took place. The team will come back to the same class on another day for several months to continue the dialogue and mentoring.
In today’s language, it is kids meeting kids. They speak the same language, are in the same age group and interact better because they see eye to eye on many matters.
There are positive indications that interest in studies among these children is on the rise. Peer intervention can very well make the difference between dropping out of school or pursuing studies to the highest level possible.
Sanadt said: “We can be likened to student whisperers. We sit with them, seek to understand their problems, talk to them and try to get them to do better in their studies. You won’t see immediate results, but the students have responded very well and we are very pleased.”
Ascendance will continue to meet the same students regularly over the next few months in a structured programme. Ten schools in Selangor have been picked for this pilot project.
If parents and teachers have not been able to make a difference in the studies and attitude of these students, let us hope that Heerraa and her team can.
One thing the Ascendance team keeps telling students is to pursue their passion in whatever field they choose. Such passion is an important driving force to excel in their field.
Kamalanathan said: “This is a very interesting and unique programme because it is developed and conducted by students for students. Who can relate better with students than students themselves?”
The programme is also in line with the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025. The goal is to engage students who have potential to succeed, but are disengaged, the Hulu Selangor member of parliament said.
Ahmad A Talib is the chairman of Yayasan Salam Malaysia. He can be reached via ahmadt51@gmail.com, and Twitter: @aatpahitmanis