SHAH ALAM - With the aim to foster critical thinking among students and encourage them to innovate through coding, creative thinking and designing skills, Maxis held its first Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) competition, under its Misi Jelajah Digital.
As a part of eKelas, Maxis’ flagship community outreach programme, the competition launched last September received an overwhelming response with almost 5,000 students registering for the programme.
One of the winners, Hafiy Nufail K from Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah, Putrajaya said the competition allowed him to master his skills and be resourceful in looking for solutions online.
"This motivates me to deepen my knowledge in STEM and perhaps explore a career in programming.
"I want to thank eKelas for organising this competition which provided me exposure to STEM,” the Form 1 student said.
Meanwhile, Madhushaa Kalithass, another winner from SMK Puchong Utama 1, Selangor said the programme was fun.
"It also offers reference materials, live tutorials, and something new to look forward to daily on the platform,” she said.
Tinesh Gajendra Bahadur, another winner for Misi Jelajah Digital from SMK Bandar Baru UDA, Johor agreed that the competition encouraged them to show off their creativity.
"Misi Jelajah Digital challenged us to think out of the box in creating a sustainable way for humans to live on Mars and opened doors to the world of programming.
Programming professions will be in high demand in the future,” he said.
The students were trained by STEM experts, Malaysia’s first astrophysicist and former director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs Datuk Seri Dr Mazlan Othman and experts from Maxis and Lenovo.
Maxis Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Mariam Bevi Batcha congratulated the winners and said it was a great platform to foster critical thinking among students and encourage them to innovate through coding, creative and design thinking skills.
"eKelas is driven by our passion for education, and we want to continue to foster innovation and help students broaden their minds through fun and vibrant digital learning content,” she said.
As a result of collaboration with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) #mydigitalmaker and Lenovo Technology Sdn Bhd (Lenovo Malaysia), Misi Jelajah Digital was approved and supported by the Educational Resources and Technology Division (BSTP), Sports, Arts and Co-curriculum Division (BSKK), and State Education Department under the Ministry of Education.
The competition was also conducted in accordance with the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards.
Four grand prize winners and 83 winners nationwide were given laptops, gadgets, and digital products for students aged 10-17 years old (Year 4 to Form 5). All participants were eligible to add on physical activity, sports and co-curriculum assessment (PAJSK) credits.
Maxis is Malaysia’s leading converged solutions provider, providing high-quality digital services and connectivity solutions.
As a homegrown Malaysian brand, it has been serving Malaysians for over 25 years and are passionate about bringing together the best of technologies to enable people, businesses and the nation to be ahead in a changing world.