10/02/2026

TUESDAY | FEB 10, 2026

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EDUCATION NEWS

A fresh chance for underprivileged girls

T HE most marginalised communities of young girls live in rural areas, on the outskirts of cities, often helping their families in farms and estates. Their world upon comple tion of their studies is limited to small, isolated villages with little or no hope to pursue any training or studies. Wan Marlina, 21 yrs, lives in Kampung Orang Asli Sungai Teras, Kuala Slim in Slim River, Perak and was not exposed to any other opportunities, except helping out her parents in oil palm and rubber estates. It was indeed a tough life and did not offer her the chance to pursue the dreams she had. Elizabeth Easaw, the principal of the Vocational Training Opportunity Centre (VTOC), located at the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA),KL visited Marlina’s village and offered her an opportunity to train. The trainng was to be at the VTOC Culinary and Baking Centre but she was o Young girls from B40 communities offered training opportunities for employment

Left, Naqib, Azraa, Yeoh, Elizabeth and Beatrice all feel the graduates from the VTOC have undergone a complete transformation, not only in their programmes but also as individuals.

for her. “I learnt to be independent and stand on my feet. I also realised that every problem could be solved if I listened and shared my problems with people who care for me. “I enjoyed planting sunflower seeds in the farm. I learnt how to do composting, and harvest time for the vegetables was so much fun. I enjoyed working with Naqib, learning how to manage the vegetable growing and then cooking them,” she said. Azraa Kamala, herself a well known chef in Malaysia, coming from a diverse background, with more than 30 years of culinary experience chose to teach the young girls in VTOC’s culinary programme. She taught them how to cook and manage a kitchen, with vegetables from the Urban Farm at the back of the YWCA building. At their graduation, the young girls from the culinary programme turned the vegetables from the urban farm into a feast of food, using the many recipes passed on by Azraa, to the delight of the invited guests. “It was quite challenging to bring them under my wing as most of them had not been exposed to the outside world. Many could not speak good English but they slowly picked it up. They had to learn the names of the spices, use them correctly and today they can cook, speak more confidently and not be afraid to enter the working world,” she said. The current President of YWCA KL, Joanne Yeoh said: “At VTOC, we not only offer training opportunities but also leadership training. We hope these young graduates will one day take on the role of women leaders in their own communities. That is our mission for these girls.”

Education, and governed by a board of governors, with internship placements that transition the girls into good jobs, that for many lead to full-time employment. The transformation process Harini Rajendran, 16 yrs, comes from Klang and could not sit for her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) due to Covid-19 and also her inability to cope with her studies. Having being placed in an orphanage from the age of four put her at a disadvantage, but having the opportunity to undergo training at VTOC opened up a different world

overseeing the programme shared the many challenges they faced in training young girls from rural communities, “These girls come from impoverished communities, carrying a tremendous amount of ‘mental’ baggage, which affects their ability to accept and change. “We have to work with them, together with volunteers, their trainers and the community to bring them out of their shells, while also improving their self-esteem and to help develop confidence,” she said. Currently, the programme is fully licensed by the Ministry of Higher

early childhood education, and hospitality. Collaboration VTOC also collaborated with Eats, Shoots and Roots (ESR), a social enterprise, under the leadership of Naqib Iskandar and Beatrice Yong to create an Urban Farm at the back of the YWCA, KL. There the 20 trainees learnt how to grow vegetables, raise chickens for their eggs and also create a herb garden for a wide diversity of home grown edible vegetables. Elizabeth, who has been A T T E R S E S O N

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apprehensive to leave her family and head for the city. But today Marlina has undergone a total transformation, graduating together with nineteen other young girls, given a E D U C B

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second chance to earn a living. This required her to undergo a year’s training offered at the VTOC, and to make a choice among five programmes offered, culinary and baking, hairdressing, beauty care,

The Farm-to-Table brunch, “Satu Rasa”, displayed the

culinary skills of the graduates.