Students of Sekolah Kebangsaan (P) Methodist Klang, or fondly known as Methodist Girls School (MGS) have something to look forward to in 2014. The school is now equipped with a fully functioning computer lab, thanks to the kind donation of refurbished desktop computers by Rentwise Malaysia.
On 3 December 2013, a team of 5 Rentwise engineers arrived at MGS to deliver and setup 43 units of refurbished HP workstations as part of its continuous commitment in ensuring Information Technology accessibility to all. This community outreach project is our recent CSR effort in working with a national school, after the ground breaking successful implementation of a similar project with
How did this project come about? It was truly a fortuitous event. “I was browsing St. Mary’s school’s website when I read about their recently setup computer lab,” says Alex, the President of MGS’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA). “I then found myself at Rentwise’s CSR web page and it appears that Rentwise is actively supporting and expanding its CSR program. That was it!” Alex enthuses, as he has run into many obstacles previously trying to secure sponsorship for the school’s computer lab.
“I wrote to Rentwise about MGS’s plight. The rest were history,” says a smiling Alex. “The school has been without a computer lab for more than 10 years. This facility was first setup in 2002. Unfortunately, the contract with Ministry of Education (MOE) was terminated a year later,” says Alex.
The Methodist Girls’ School is a Missionary government-aided primary school (Sekolah Kebangsaan Perempuan Methodist (MGS Klang)) in Jalan Raya Barat within the district of Klang. The school was established by Ruth Eklund on May 24, 1924 after she discovered that there were 12 female pupils in the Anglo Chinese School, Klang during that academic year.
The school’s motto is Cum Deo Laboramus, which is Latin for “We Work With God”. MGS is one of the 5 premier schools in the district of Klang. MGS is reckoned to be one of the top all girls school for many years in the district of Klang. At present there are 920 students in MGS Klang.
The refurbished desktop computers donated by Rentwise Malaysia are HP Workstation XW 4400 Intel® CoreTM 2 Duo Processor featuring 4GB of Memory and 160GB of Storage with DVD Drive and Integrated Video & Audio. The desktops also comes with Built in Network Interface. To top it off, Rentwise also included a HP 17” inch LCD with each unit. The processing power of these computers meets the requirements of MGS students, who will basically be using them as presentation tools, for word and spreadsheet processing works and Internet browsing. MGS PTA also provided some printers for the computer lab.
As a sensitive and forward thinking organisation, we believe in giving back to the community through various ground events, programs and projects. We would like to keep a close touch with society by making our presence felt at every level of the community, especially the younger generation.
Thus, when and where budget permits, we try to support one needy school every year, mainly missionary schools. These are mostly schools among the last to receive any kind of allocation for computers required by students to carry out their computer studies as part of the national school curriculum’s (KSSR) Science & Technology subjects.
“Since my child enrolled into MGS in 2009, I have written to many organisations for sponsorship as the PTA funds were not sufficient to setup a computer lab,” says Alex. The school has only a small sum of RM 12,000 yearly for basic improvement and maintenance of its infrastructure. PTA subsequently sought the support of the Methodist Board but failed most of the time.
However, it was not all that bleak an outcome though. Eventually, MGS got some funds from a general allocation of RM 200,000 given to some missionary schools, a much welcome breakthrough from the school’s writing to MOE through the Methodist Board. Some of the funds were mainly used to repair the school’s roof that was affected by termites.
“Being an engineer by profession, I did some value engineering on the works and managed to reduce the cost of repair and used the remainder of funds for the establishment of the computer lab. This was after we got confirmation from Rentwise in supplying the refurbished desktop computers,” says Alex. A sum of about RM 25,000 was spent in setting up the infrastructure (e.g. air conditioned units, AC power outlets, networking and electrical wiring works) of the computer lab before Rentwise deployed the refurbished desktop computers.
MGS Klang Primary School was chosen particularly as they are located near to Rentwise headquarters. We anticipate some of our staff would send or are already sending their children to this school. This contribution would then help greatly in enriching these children’s education process.
To ensure the smooth running of the computer lab, the school is considering collecting RM 50 per year for each student from 2014 onwards. These funds collected will be used for general upkeep of the lab’s infrastructure; e.g. small upgrades, repair and support works. “Rentwise is kind enough to provide us a 3-months warranty for all equipment sponsored,” says Alex. The school has also designated 4 teachers to conduct computer classes and is drawing up the syllabus and framework for students to follow.
Rentwise Malaysia is indeed glad to extend the much-needed assistance to MGS. It is truly a priceless feeling witnessing the beaming smiles of children having an opportunity to be exposed to computer studies at such a young age. 2014 is indeed a refreshing start to look forward to after more than 10 years without a computer lab.
However, we would like to do more. The school still needs 15 laptops for their teachers. One possible means to fulfil this pressing need will be through corporate sponsorship. We are urgently seeking companies who are considering refreshing their existing laptops. We invite these companies to contact us so we can carry out the refurbishment activities on these laptops before deploying them to the school.
“Words could not express how thankful we are to Rentwise in heeding our call for help. We’ve tried long and hard and finally, someone listened. I am eternally grateful to Rentwise’s dedication to their CSR program. This small act of kindness is certainly a game changer in the lives and experiences of the school’s 920 students!” Alex concludes.
