By Mei Kuan
The Methodist Girls’ Kindergarten Ipoh (MGK) along Jalan Chamberlain Hulu underwent major renovation work beginning late November 2020 till January 2021 in order to better serve the community.
With affordable school fees, the private kindergarten under the stewardship of Canning Garden Methodist Church (CGMC) is registered with the Education Department and uses the national curriculum.
“MGK has provided Early Childhood Education to thousands of children in and around the city of Ipoh since its inception in 1973. It is time to upgrade our 47-year-old kindergarten to keep up with the needs of the 21st Century teaching and learning approaches in Early Childhood Education. Upgrading our physical facilities, as well as operational, teaching and learning aspects is a necessity for MGK to continue to be a good and productive feeder-school to MGS Ipoh,” Leonard Lim, a member of Canning Garden Methodist Church and chairperson of the church Pre-school Ministry explained.
According to him, MGK is not only a community project to provide Early Childhood Education to children, it serves as a place where character is built and values are imparted.
With a maximum capacity of 120, it is attended by girls and boys of 4 to 6 years old.
“As a community project, we try our level best to keep the school fees as affordable as possible so that many children and their family can be benefitted. As a non-government school, we do not enjoy any yearly allocation. We are totally dependent upon the collection of school fees to operate the school. Due to COVID-19, we had to cancel our fund-raising project last year,” he stated, adding that the significant renovation was made possible through the generosity of members of CGMC to help fund the project.
The improvements included renovation of the building interiors, new turf to spruce up the garden, roof replacement of the mini concourse, floor tiling, repaint, electrical work, new furnishings and construction of new preschooler’s toilets as well as internal walkways.
“With the completion of the upgrading project, we now have a clearly demarcated area which is suitable, safe and conducive for preschool children and their teachers to carry out their teaching and learning activities,” Leonard, who is a retired linguistics lecturer with 39 years in the teaching profession under his belt, enthused.
Rest assured as the kindergarten operates with strict adherence to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the Ministry of Education.
“Temperature is taken, children’s bags, shoes and hands are sanitised and social distancing is practised. Door knobs, tables, chairs and other surfaces are wiped frequently – before school starts, after recess and after school. Google Classroom and other social media are used during MCO as alternative to in-person lessons. We had a drive-through graduation ceremony for our graduating students last year,” he shared with Ipoh Echo.
To learn more, visit the Facebook page of MGK Ipoh or contact the kindergarten at 05 243 2747. The preschool is located at 71, Jalan Chamberlain Hulu, 30250 Ipoh.
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