CSR programme to help Malaysian schools in digital drive

11 / 07 / 2020

By The Star - -

A total of 500 schools nationwide are set to benefit from the implementation of cashless solutions and artificial intelligence-powered facial recognition over the next few months, thanks to a joint corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme to digitalise schools.

The initiative by Green Packet Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary KiplePay Sdn Bhd and the Malaysia Xiang Lian Youth Association Charity and Education Fund was sealed in a recent memorandum of understanding (MoU), which will create an end-to-end digital experience.

This includes digitalising school attendance, capturing and recording the students’ temperature, as well as adopting a cashless solution for the convenience of students, teachers, merchants and parents.

According to Malaysia Xiang Lian Youth Association Charity and Education Fund chairman Datuk Seri Dr King Lim Chin Fui, the current situation has become a wake-up call for schools to seriously consider putting in place technologically advanced protection systems that can continue to protect schoolchildren, even after the Covid-19 pandemic.

He added, “It is a key priority for the association to protect the safety and wellbeing of schoolchildren. Hence, we are honoured to pioneer this digital school safety and cashless CSR programme with Green Packet, as we believe this digital platform will be able to address school needs, which includes preparing the schools to face any disease outbreaks or pandemic in future.”

The adoption of contactless payment and digital platforms are among the basic technological improvements that schools should adopt, said KiplePay chief executive officer Kay Tan.

Beyond that, these digital platforms can enable parents to pre-order food for their children, allowing students to enjoy a seamless and contactless process of collecting food, thus omitting the long time spent in queuing. The feature also gives parents a clear view on their children’s purchases.

Tan said, “We are fully supportive of the CSR programme as we believe in making digital technology accessible across all schools in Malaysia by increasing its affordability. To some extent, cashless environments could reduce the bullying and extortion concern on students carrying cash when cashless environment is created.”

Moreover, he also hinted that the group is currently working on the facial recognition technology to power cashless and contactless purchases.

“We are seeing wider acceptance of facial recognition technology as a biometric method to securely identify each and every individual. Just imagine that the students are able to collect pre-ordered food at the cafeteria by scanning their faces, which is linked to their parents’ e-wallet,” he added.

With more schools reopening soon, KiplePay is also helping schools across the country to ensure the Ministry of Education’s standard operating procedures are followed, particularly in terms of temperature scanning and registration of every student before entry with the KipleLive solution.

Since 2017, KiplePay has been a pioneer of digital initiatives in the education sector. With the KipleUni programme launched together with Bank Islam this year, KiplePay is aiming to become a market leader in driving the education industry towards digitalisation, through its cashless payment transactions where it fulfils the needs of students, schools and merchant partners.