KUALA LUMPUR, May 14 — Mental health programmes and special needs students are some of the highlights of Yayasan Hasanah, a foundation of government investment arm, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, in the area of education.
Its head of education Nur Anuar Abdul Muthalib said the foundation has provided means to train school counsellors and administrators to cater to mental health cases in schools due to the growing number of such incidents among students.
“We work in very specific areas because in our discussions with the Education Ministry, we found that there are a lot of mental health cases among students in schools, especially those who live in PPR [people's housing project] areas.
“That is why we target the schools that receive students from these areas from Penang, Selangor, the Federal Territories and Johor,” said Nur Anuar at the launch of The Hasanah Report (THR18) here today.
He said the foundation had invested in training 285 counsellors in the four states in order to give students better support as well as self-support because there are insufficient clinical psychologists to cater to the number of students, with Nur Anuar citing a ratio of one counsellor to 500 students.
“We need the support from the counsellors in schools to take on these responsibilities. That is why we invest in training and we are currently in discussions with the Education Ministry to increase this to 143 districts nationwide,” he said.
In the areas of special needs students, Nur Anuar said the foundation is looking to provide a new assessment system as an alternative to SPM that would cater to students with learning disabilities.
“We are working with the ministry on the examination certificate as well as with specialists on the assessments. We would want it to be validated by international bodies,” said Nur Anuar, adding that employers would be able to hire future employees with special needs based on their skills and not only on academic qualification.
“It is how we are able to access their abilities within their disabilities. What they can do rather than what they can’t do.
“We are working on that — building indicators, have done the conceptual framework — and hope to have this done within three years,” he said.
Meanwhile, the foundation’s managing director Shahira Ahmed Bazari said after three years of operations, Yayasan Hasanah will begin focusing more on advocacy works with the federal and state administrations.
“First three years we have done the projects and programmes together in partnership. This year we will focus a lot more on advocacy with the government in supporting some of the work we are doing.
“In the next three years we hope to do more research and advocacy to help support some of the initiatives we are doing now. The projects that are already in the pipeline will continue on as many of it are long-term and multi-year. You cannot achieve social impact in a year,” she told reporters when met after the launch of the report.
The foundation had launched its first fully digital and interactive report to allow ease of accessibility and to reach a wider audience.
Since its formation in July 2015, Hasanah has enabled 51 civil society partner associations nationwide to deliver strategic and impactful programmes, which has improved the lives of about 360,000 beneficiaries, with an annual funding of roughly RM120 million.
The total allocation for 2018 was RM127.6 million to operate and program 52 projects with 40 civil society partner associations.
Its key focus areas include education, community, environment, the arts and public spaces and knowledge.
“Human capital development is the common thread that ties all our focus areas together. A critical factor for growth is investing in people so that they can develop their full potential,” said Shahira.
