The Sarawak Foundation (Yayasan Sarawak) hosted the Student Retreat Program (Sarawak Zone) from September 3 to 9, 2022, in collaboration with Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), the Sarawak Education Department, and the Centre of Technical Excellence (CENTEXS) at CENTEXS Kuching, Jalan Santubong.
The Sarawak Student Retreat Program is a unique programme that brings together Sarawakian students from the Sarawak Foundation Student Exchange Program who attend Boarding Schools (SBP) in Labuan and Sabahan students who attend SBP in Sarawak as part of the Sarawak Foundation Student Exchange Program.
Sponsored students do not return to their hometowns during the mid-term holidays and are required to participate in the Student Retreat Program, which intends to improve the ties between them while also filling their holidays with useful programmes and activities.
This programme, however, is not limited to students participating in the Student Exchange Program.
Yayasan Sarawak had invited three students from each secondary school to represent them in the High Performing Rural Schools (HiPERS) programme, which covers 25 secondary schools from Lawas to Kuching.
This time, 151 students took part, including 62 from the Student Exchange Program and the rest from secondary schools participating in the HiPERS programme.
Sarawak Foundation director Mersal Abang Rosli officially launched the Student Retreat Program on September 5 at the Sarawak Foundation’s Jamilah Hall.
In his speech, he welcomed the students’ participation in the programme and expressed his sincere hope that the participants would acquire self-confidence, make new friends from HiPERS schools and with Exchange Program students, and foster team spirit.
With the slogan “Projecting Yourself,” activities and programmes aimed at revealing personal potential as well as exposing students to mental wellness in order to prepare them for the challenges of SBP.
Attending SBP always requires a higher level of mental strength because students are constantly separated from their parents and loved ones from Form 1 till the end of Form 5.
Furthermore, Yayasan Sarawak is collaborating with final-year Master’s degree counselling students at UNIMAS to carry out some of the activities that can assist students gain mental strength and self-confidence to confront any problems, whether at school or outside of school.
In order to help the students strengthen their identity and self-confidence, Yayasan Sarawak also invited a number of skilled coaches, including Dr Shafie Haji Lugom, Dr Suffian Haji Jalet, and Cikgu Abdul Rahim Haji Abol.
The programme is about more than just motivation and counselling. To practise teamwork, the students were also brought to Sumiran Eco Park & Resort.
They were exposed to team physical activities such as sports, adventure activities, and Flying Fox Zipline activities to evaluate the participants’ physical and mental strength. The students enjoyed the activities during the programme.
This programme, which included counselling, motivation, and physical activities, gave them a lot of knowledge and experience.
Louis Simon Peter, deputy director (Education) of Yayasan Sarawak, officially closed the programme on September 9, and he truly hopes that the participants, particularly the HiPERS school students, gained a positive attitude and were able to share their experience with other students in their respective schools.
