i-THINK project promotes thinking skills

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REWARDING ENTREPRENEURISM: Najib officiating at the launch of the GIGIH programme at Kuala Terengganu on Feb 23, an AIM initiative aimed to inculcate the spirit of entrepreneurship amongst Malaysians.

REWARDING ENTREPRENEURISM: Najib officiating at the launch of the GIGIH programme at Kuala Terengganu on Feb 23, an AIM initiative aimed to inculcate the spirit of entrepreneurship amongst Malaysians.

bpieflogoKUCHING: The i-THINK programme, a joint project by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM), is aimed at inculcating innovative and powerful thinking skills at the primary and secondary school levels.

i-THINK is a realistic and practical approach to inculcating thinking processes in teaching and learning methods at schools among teachers and students alike through the use of thinking maps developed by Dr David Hyerle.

Thinking maps are visual teaching tools that foster and encourage lifelong learning which helps teachers and students work smarter with enhanced communication between teachers and students, transforming the teaching process from a teacher-centric system into a student-centric system.

At the beginning of 2012, ten schools were selected around the country to become part of a pilot project aimed at introducing thinking processes in schoolchildren. The government has expanded the programme to 1,000 schools in 2013 and plans to implement it to all schools by 2014.

At the launching event last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said: “We owe it to our children to equip them with critical thinking skills and give them a strong educational foundation that will allow them to compete on par with the millions of others studying and working in the rest of the world, so that our children can contribute on an equal playing field in the global village, be it in decision-making, research and development, or business and marketing.

“Transforming our students into better thinkers to enable them to succeed in any environment will be the best legacy we can leave for them.

The i-THINK programme, which is aligned to one of the key thrusts of the National Innovation Strategy, is a long-term approach to get our children to use critical and analytical thinking at a deep level so that they develop into inquisitive, disciplined thinkers with questioning minds that will enable them to perform with excellence in the international arena.

 

Unearthing success stories of self-improvement through GIGIH

In the same area of social innovation, AIM initiated the GIGIH programme, an initiative aimed to inculcate the spirit of entrepreneurship amongst the Malaysian population, as well as to recognise Malaysians who have successfully improved their quality of life through enterprising activities. Najib launched GIGIH at the Jelajah Janji Ditepati Terengganu programme on Feb 23, this year.

The objective of this initiative is to recognise individuals who have demonstrated the determination to help themselves increase their household income, in addition to highlighting the best activities and businesses, making them an inspiration to other aspiring Malaysian entrepreneurs.

These individuals will be invited to share their erecipes f of success through the GIGIH programme, a challenge that offers prizes and cash rewards totaling RM2 million to 500 winners. These recipes will be converted into ebusiness models f that can be used by others to succeed.

AIM chief executive officer Mark Rozario said that the GIGIH initiative is different from other entrepreneurship programmes run by other agencies.

“GIGIH is an innovative way to help develop new entrepreneurs amongst Malaysians, h said Rozario. gThis programme was created to identify ideas of activities or businesses conducted by successful entrepreneurs, and replicate those successes with many others.

“We definitely have so many interesting stories of successful Malaysian entrepreneurs that can inspire everyone. From internet entrepreneurs or those offering products and services at your doorstep to the one about a man in Pasir Puteh, Kelantan who turned his interest in radio-controlled airplane models into a successful money-making venture, these are the stories we hope GIGIH can uncover and share, h said Rozario.

“If the success stories of these enterprising individuals can be used to create new entrepreneurs and subsequently improve their quality of life, we will reward them as a sign of support and recognition by the government for their determination and innovative spirit, h he added.

Those interested to share stories of their activities to increase their household income can participate in the GIGIH challenge by filling up the entry form, available at www.gigih.my.

For more information on the GIGIH challenge and other AIM initiatives, visit their booth at the Borneo Post International Education Fair (BPIEF) from March 9-10, 10am to 6pm at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching.