Zaid (third right) symbolically hands over the sponsorship funds to Kadim.
KOTA SAMARAHAN: A collaborative agreement between Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) and ICT infrastructure company Sacofa Sdn Bhd will see the provision of Digital Makerspace Starter Kits to six rural schools in Sarawak.
Under the arrangement, Sacofa will sponsor the starter kits while Unimas will facilitate the establishment of Digital Makerspace (DM) at the schools – SK Maludam (Betong), SMK Bau, SJK Min Daik (Meradong), SJK Kai Chung (Meradong), SMK Mukah, and SJK Poi Yuk (Dalat).
Unimas vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohamad Kadim Suaidi said DM is a learning space for students to get creative in solving problems through building digital creations and inventions using various maker tools.
“In year 2018, 24 Digital Maker Hubs (DMHs) were established in Malaysian public schools through the #mydigitalmaker initiative by Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). SMK Lanang was the only Sarawak school selected.
“Thankfully, the Ministry of Education (KPM) continued the initiative of DMH and selected 188 schools in the year 2019. For now, five primary schools and eight secondary schools from Sarawak have been selected,” he said during an event to announce the collaboration on Wednesday (Oct 14).
Kadim said Sacofa is the first company in Sarawak, and one of the pioneer companies in Malaysia, to show support for DMH initiatives by sponsoring Digital Makerspace Starter Kits.
“Sealing the partnership will strengthen the two organisations by way of sharing expertise and experience in the field Science and ICT for the community,” he said.
During the event, Sacofa managing director Zaid Zaini symbolically handed over the funds to Unimas.
He said Sacofa sees the latest collaboration with Unimas as a noble effort to inculcate innovative learning and problem-solving methods while doing their part to do contribute towards a better Sarawak.
“In line with the spirit of social responsibility, we are honoured to be given an opportunity to play a role in this activity to provide Digital Makerspace Starter Kits to the six rural schools.
“The main thrust of this initiative is education. It is with our collaboration with Unimas that we embarked on a wonderful partnership to incorporate education activities into our CSR programme,” he said.