KUANTAN, Feb 11 — Muhamad Shah Azami Sabri’s dream to attend tuition classes comes true after he was selected as a participant at Akademi Menara Gading (AMG), organised by Al-Sultan Abdullah Foundation (YASA).

The Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Alor Akar form four student said he had never raised tuition class issue with his parents as he was aware of the financial situation of his father, Sabri Hamid, 51 who works as a security guard.

The 16-year-old teenager also shared that he had asked his parents to pray for him after a teacher told him that he had been chosen to attend AMG XI cohort participants selection today.

"I have always envied my friends who attend tuition classes because sometimes they get to learn topics that are not yet to be taught at school besides having reference teachers.

"Alhamdulillah, now I have the opportunity to have the same experience and at the same time improve my English proficiency as this year AMG is collaborating with the US Embassy for English lesson,” he told Bernama at the end of the selection process.

AMG was established in 1999, a brainchild of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, while Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah is the patron. It was supported by Istana Abdulaziz Foundation which later renamed YASA.

Besides YASA, AMG cohort XI was also supported by the Faculty of Education of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Yayasan Koperasi Serbausaha Makmur Berhad (Yayasan Kosma) and the US Embassy which offers 360 hours of English classes for two years under the English Access Microscholarship Program (Access).

For SMK Abdul Rahman Talib student, R. Locsiny, 16, the opportunity to join AMG was a platform for her to give her family a better life as they depend solely on her father, S. Rajendran, 57, who is being paid a daily wage as a mechanic.

"AMG also teaches students to be more disciplined and not afraid to face challenges. In its previous intake, the participants were taken to visit foreign countries such as Japan and South Korea.

"This allows us to study outside of the classroom and experience things that maybe just a dream for some. That was why my parents and I had been praying hard for me to be selected,” she said.

Meanwhile, Lai Pei Yin, 16, of SMK Tanah Putih said although she obtained poor results in her Form Three Assessment, she was optimistic that her participation in AMG would help her achieve excellent results in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia.

Lai noted that based on experience shared by seniors, those who were weak in certain subjects had managed to improve it and now become engineers, accountants and lawyers.

"I will not squander this opportunity … I am ready to sacrifice my weekends for the next two years to attend AMG extra classes because it is costly to attend other private classes, and we can’t afford it as my father works as a welder,” she said, adding that she would set a good example for her two younger siblings. — Bernama