RAISING THE BAR ON QUALITY OF LECTURERS
By Joanna Lee
If you have a passion for education as a career and have been accepted into a top international university to do an education-related course but do not have the finances, you may be inclined to throw away the offer. Thankfully for Chan Yen Ping, her college, Methodist College Kuala Lumpur (MCKL), came to her rescue. (Read her story in our April-June 2018 issue.) MCKL CEO Moey Yoke Lai and Director of Institutional Development Mr Khoo Teng Sooi talked to Asian Beacon about the various education scholarships offered by MCKL.
In 2013, when Yen Ping was finishing her A-levels at MCKL, the college heard about her passion for education and encouraged her to apply to Cambridge University. “We came up with a scholarship scheme, not only for her but for any young persons who have a calling (in teaching) to support them,” said Mr Khoo. And so the MCKL Teaching Scholarship was born. That year, MCKL sponsored Yen Ping’s quest at Cambridge University and Zara Kim Khoo’s degree in Early Childhood Education at University of Gloucestershire.
So far, MCKL Teaching Scholarship has sponsored eight students, including Claire Tan who is pursuing Education in English in Cambridge, Elizabeth Tan at Wheaton College, US, for a physics degree, Christina Chan at the University of Sydney for economics and Catherine Bakewell who’s pursuing Education in English at York University. While going through their names, Ms Moey and Mr Khoo showed much care and concern for each of them as they had taken each student’s story and struggles to heart.
Ms Moey said MCKL Teaching Scholarship aimed to fulfil MCKL’s need for graduates equipped with the best teaching qualifications from top international universities and who are passionate about the teaching career.


Criteria for MCKL Teaching Scholarship
Firstly, the applicants should be Christians, according to Ms Moey, who expressed concern over the dwindling number of Christian educators in schools. “We want to encourage young people to take up teaching as a career,” she said.
Secondly, MCKL looks for students who are active in extra-curricular activities, have leadership qualities and love people. “We want lecturers who are interested in and willing to interact with students,” Ms Moey pointed out. (Yen Ping not only teaches chemistry but leads the Student Council as lecturer advisor and co-advises the Christian Fellowship with other lecturers.)
“Finally, applicants must be students of calibre, have maintained good grades and done well in their exams.”
Ms Moey added that the scholarship covers only the university’s tuition fees.
Postgraduate scholarships in education
MCKL provides another scholarship to its lecturers who have taught for three years. Under the United Board Scholarship, lecturers receive USD$10,000 for a master’s programme.
MCKL also offers lecturers the MCKL Faculty Scholarship. “While they study, we give them full paid leave to help them with expenses. They still get staff benefits with insurance. This will help them with their board and lodging,” Mr Khoo said.
“At least they can concentrate on their studies and don’t have to worry about money,” Ms Moey chipped in.
MCKL also has other partnership scholarships with local universities, such as Heriot-Watt University and Monash University.
“For a moderate college like ours, God has blessed us tremendously. So we want to pass this blessing on to younger people who can lead the college in future. We certainly hope that through this continuous effort, we’ll always have well-trained Christian lecturers,” Ms Moey concluded.
With the various scholarships that have been carefully thought through, MCKL appears to be an academic institution that is serious about raising competent, passionate educators who will in turn raise high quality students.
Asian Beacon: Jul – Sep 2018 (Vol 50 #3, p26)