Dr Sirhajwan
KOTA KINABALU (Nov 21): Dr Sirhajwan Idek, an English language teacher at Keningau Vocational College (KVC), Sabah, has won the British Council’s ELTons Award in the local innovation category with his project, Virtual, Remote, Live (VRL).
The announcement was made on the website of the ELTons Innovation Festival on 20th November 2024.
This internationalization project conducted through online sessions. Out of over 200 entries received from 60 countries, four projects have been shortlisted as finalists in this category before the winners for each of the category were recently announced.
Dr Sirhajwan became the first Malaysian to win the prestigious ELTons Awards. The list of winners for each of the five categories can be accessed on the website https://www.britishcouncil.org/english-assessment/eltons/festival-of-innovation?shpath=/eltons-winners-2024
The ELTons innovation awards are the most prestigious awards in the world for English language innovation in teaching, learning and assessment. It is organized annually by the British Council which welcomes entries from all over the world in five categories.
Dr Sirhajwan’s project known as ‘Virtual, Remote, Live’ or VRL enables students and teachers to interact with their counterparts from other countries through various online activities such as masterclasses, conference presentations, cultural exchange classes, and virtual chats. The project has successfully benefitted over 2,000 students and teachers from Malaysia and several other countries who participated actively in the programme.
The online sessions offer them an easily accessible platform to learn about various topics and present their work in English language. Many students have successfully applied what they learned from the program’s activities and subsequently expanded the impact of their own projects.
Dr Sirhajwan is delighted that his project has been chosen as this year’s winner because it is a testament that VRL has made a positive impact on the education world.
He attributed his achievement to his own mother, Hj Bintek Hj Abdul Rahman, who is a former teacher as she always guides her on the right course of action in any situation.
The college director, Nordin bin Akup, congratulated Dr Sirhajwan for his dedication in exploring various opportunities to encourage the students to develop their English language abilities and general knowledge.
