PTP gives school aids to underprivileged students

A TOTAL of 170 underprivileged students from 16 schools in Gelang Patah, Johor, were chosen to receive school essentials worth about RM100 under Pelabuhan Tanjung Pelepas Sdn Bhd (PTP) annual "Back to School" programme. 

CEO Marco Neelsen said as a part of the firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR), "Back to School" is aimed at assisting underprivileged students with academic potential. 

Thus, these selected students will receive stationary sets, school bags and reference materials. 

"Due to financial constraints, not all parents are able to provide the necessary school supplies for their children, and we have invested in easing this burden through our community-based programmes," Neelsen said at the closing ceremony in Gelang Patah yesterday. 

Through CSR-based pro-grams, he said PTP is committed in assisting local students to improve their learning ability and academic performance in efforts to improve the qualification of local talents. 

"The CSR-based programmes have been a worthy investment both to the Johor state and the company, as they play a part in developing valuable human capital. 

"We see education as the catalyst for upward social mobility, and PTP's CSR programmes are structured to bridge the urban-rural social mobility specifically via education empowerment," he said. 

"Apart from that, it's important to raise the standards of local talents in order for them to compete in larger job market once they leave schools." 

PTP has been organising the programme for 11 years through collaborations with many local parties such as the Johor Baru Education Department and Umno to boost the development of human capital in Gelang Patah. 

"It's encouraging to see a corporate company such as PTP to give opportunities for local students to pursue their education in a more comfortable manner as well as continuously engaging with the surrounding communities around its operation," Umno Gelang Patah division chief Mohamed Khairi A Malik said.

"Also, this is in line with the state government's aspiration to have a sustainable human capital supply from the local community." 

Concurrently, PTP also organised other educational-based programmes such as English tuition, boot camp and communication workshops, motivational camps, and educational trips to local universities. 

PTP is a joint venture (JV) between utilities and infrastructure group MMC Corp Bhd, and global ports group APM Terminals.