Academic Grant For Outstanding Indian Students

On 17 July 2011, the second batch of SMC students received RM750,000 from Yayasan 1MDB. These 50  students had excelled in their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) under the tutorial and guidance of SMC.  They will each receive RM15,000 to help in their preparations to enter university in September this year.

The 1MDB grants were given to deserving students based on merits and needs. Yayasan 1MDB provided the RM750,000 funding for the grant  while SMC was responsible for the rigorous selection of eligible candidates.

Apart from academic excellence and their family’s financial background, the 50  students who received the academic grant went through a selection process which also took into consideration their involvement in community empowerment activities, youth leadership programmes and active participation in local NGO programmes.

The 1MDB-SMC Alumni Club was also officiated to spur more former SMC students to return to the centre to help current students prepare for their examinations. The setting up of the Alumni Club was inspired by the voluntary spirit of former SMC students.

The former students are from the first batch of SMC top scorers who received the 1MDB Academic Grant to pursue tertiary education last year. The first batch of 50 students received their grant June last year from Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak.

SMC is an education-based NGO providing educational guidance to underprivileged Indian students since its inception in 1984. It now has 103 centres nationwide, running intensive education programmes for more than 9,000 students at various levels of education. Presently, SMC has over 2,000 volunteers running the centres and has since produced more than 20,000 students who successfully advanced to tertiary level in local and foreign institutions. SMC has blossomed from provider of weekend classes for children into an organisation known for poverty eradication, social engineering and capacity building activities for the Indian community in Malaysia.