ECM Libra Foundation began working with non-governmental organisation Edvolution Enterprise in 2017 in a bid to bring about positive transformational changes at public schools by empowering leaders across different levels of the education system.
Social enterprise Edvolution Enterprise embarked on its pilot Teacher Empowerment for School Transformation (TEST) programme to raise the standards of the teaching and learning practice of the District Education Office, School Leaders and Teachers at 14 low-performing schools in Penang's North-East District. In the process, the programme reached out to 200 Teachers, 100 School Leaders and approximately 8,918 students in the B40 communities.
In the year 2018, the programme recorded a six percent drop in teacher absenteeism in the district. The programme continued to chart growth in 2019 when more than half of the students in the 14 schools indicated they were more socially-connected to the lessons. This was largely due to improvements to the teachers’ instructional skills such as acknowledging students’ work, praising their good behaviour and being attentive to their needs in the classroom.
In light of that, the TEST programme was acknowledged by the Ministry of Education as a 'new model' for bridging education inequity in the country's education system with ECM Libra Foundation being acknowledged as MoE's strategic partner for improving the quality of education in Malaysia.
Besides that, the impact of the TEST programme has also earned Edvolution Enterprise the opportunity to contribute to policymaking by being a sub-committee to the 'Jawatankuasa Dasar Kajian Pendidikan Negara' and review of the Malaysia Education Blueprint in the areas of District Leadership. In 2018, the TEST programme was selected as one of the top 150 global education innovation by HundrEd (global community that seeks inspiring education innovations).