KUALA LUMPUR, 8TH JANUARY 2019 – Students at St. John’s International School (SJIS) are set to explore and experience an excellent source of STEM education enrichment – Drone Technology. A collaborative initiative with SG Education Group, the leading Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institute in Malaysia, SJIS’ new Drone Tech Club (DTC) will get hands-on with this exciting technology.

The programme, certified by the Institute for Drone Technology in Australia, will last two-and-a-half years and focus on the precise operating techniques required to operate the drones, allowing the students to practise their small motor skills and hand-eye coordination. It’s not just flying around for fun; the students will also learn coding and programming skills to plot the drones’ flight paths, and become familiar with the internal electronics and mechanisms of the devices.

SJIS is aiming to become the first International School to achieve the highest rate of Digital Literacy in the country. This latest innovative initiative is in-keeping with their ambitious academic agenda, offering the latest in interesting and engaging teaching methods, subjects and extra-curricular activities to its high-achieving students. According to the Education Performance and Delivery Unit in the Education Ministry, nationwide enrolment levels in STEM streams have been dropping significantly, and fewer students are meeting the basic criteria to pursue undergraduate degrees in STEM-related subjects. By getting students hands-on with such technologies as drones – which can involve coding and software, electronics, physics, and even creativity in design – it is hoped that more will enjoy the learning experience and continue with STEM subjects to an advanced level

The DTC will add to the long list of Clubs & Societies at SJIS, especially adding an extra dimension to the new production arts club, where students have access to their own content creation studio and software. The next school video should promise to be a brilliant one!

Suresh Dass, Chief Operating Officer & Principal at SJIS, was delighted to welcome the SG Education Group Drone team to the school: “With the emphasis of STEM into the fragment of our education delivery today, as with coding and artificial intelligence, Drone Technology will soon be part of our life, many flying such devices. I foresee the enhancement of its use in an ethical and responsible manner. With close to 20 years’ experience at the forefront of vocational training, SG Education Group are the perfect partner for our DTC programme, and we are very excited to see what our eager students learn about this rapidly-growing technology and what opportunities it can bring in their future careers”.

Dato’ Sri Ganes, Founder & CEO of SG Education, echoed Mr Dass’ sentiments: “Drone Technology has been instrumental in pushing children towards fields like coding and engineering, as this inspires them to use their imaginations, and to be focused on how each component will affect the eventual flights of the machine. We are looking at more programs for these children that are designed to apply the foundational knowledge towards creating new inventions or improving to be completely free of physical controllers, with exploration of Artificial Intelligence”.

SG Education Group were established in 1999 to provide various skills training courses accredited by the Department of Skills Development (DSD), Ministry of Human Resource Malaysia and Pearson Education, UK – making them the first internationally accredited private skills institute in Malaysia. With a 98% industry employment success rate for around 500 skilled graduates annually, they are one of the premier vocations skills provider in the region. The training mechanism is a unique methodology developed by Asia Drone IoT Technologies in partnership with SG Education Group, perfectly adapted to suit local market requirements.