Programme Overview
What is the Young Educators Challenge (YEC)?
Young Educator's Challenge is a national competition for students of Malaysia to learn, design and empower those around them by taking a larger role in their learning experience. Students will get the chance to be guided by mentors and collaborate with peers from all over Malaysia in building their ideal learning space.
Through this journey, students will undertake various workshops to upskill themselves to give them the tools needed to design their learning recovery projects. Teams will pitch their project idea in a weekend, and successful pitches will be offered a grant to fund for piloting in the next month and a half. At the end, projects will be showcased and the top projects will be awarded.
YEC is a two and a half month journey to innovating education.
Please take your time to go through the FAQ page before applying. :)
When would it be held?
YEC will be held in a duration of two and a half months where it would be divided into a few segments:
YEC Bootcamp: 30 September, 1 - 2 October
Pitch Crafting: 3 October - 14 October 2022
YEC Weekend: Pitch!: 15 - 16 October 2022
Pilot Your Project: 17 October - 1 December
Awards Ceremony: 10 December
Who is eligible to participate?
YEC is only open to secondary school students across Malaysia (applicable to Government, Private and International Schools), aged 13 - 17 years old.
How will the participants be selected?
A thorough assessment of student applications will be done with the following criteria in mind:
Their interest in creating an impactful learning recovery project
Idea(s) that is/are both practical and innovative
Energy and communication skills in their application video
Can the team members be from a different school?
A team may be formed with participants from different schools and different locations. There are no geographical boundaries.
Do discuss with your team on how you can overcome the challenge of being in different schools/locations, and plan your project accordingly.
What is the role of our teacher throughout the competition?
Your teacher will be your chaperone throughout the entire competition. In the case where you need permission to conduct certain tasks related to your initiative, you should seek assistance from your teacher.
Is there a limit for how many participants per each team?
Each group must have three participants only.
What does it cost to enter?
YEC is free! There will be no fees imposed on participants.
How do I sign up?
Interested students can apply here.
Where would the Young Educators Challenge be held?
YEC 2022 will be conducted entirely online and remotely. We encourage applications from all across Malaysia!
YEC Bootcamp
What would we learn from this online bootcamp?
Participants will learn the skills of how to pitch their own learning recovery project, particularly focusing on a few areas such as:
Craft : Construct your idea of a learning recovery project that will directly improve the academic results/progress of your target group in one or more subjects.
Pitch : Your idea now has to be pitched. A good idea pitch is interesting, memorable, and actionable. Your team will receive grants worth RM500 if your project has been pitched successfully.
Pilot : Once you’ve successfully pitched, it’s time to pilot the project. You will be provided around a month and a half to execute your project, record and submit data to illustrate its impact. Who knows, your project might be brought to bigger heights after the showcase!
What is the scope of our learning recovery project?
Your learning recovery project should:
Aim to improve the academic results/progress of students in Malaysia
Target a local group of students in a school or community in Malaysia
Address concerns about learning loss that are close and dear to you.
Have measurable objectives and potential for further development.
Be able to execute within the timeframe of 6 weeks.
When will the workshops be held?
It will be held for three days from 30 September to 2 October 2022.
Do we get to choose our own timing?
The timing for all the workshops will be set by Project ID, and will be run throughout the three days. All teams must attend all the workshops.
What happens if I missed out on a session?
In the event that you are unable to attend a workshop due to unforeseen circumstances, please inform the organizers as soon as possible. If you cannot attend, it is your responsibility as a team to work together so no one is left behind. It is strongly encouraged that participants attend all sessions.
Pitch Crafting
What is the Pitch Crafting phase?
After YEC Bootcamp, you and your team will be ideating and drafting a learning recovery project proposal. This is an important stage as you will be pitching your project during YEC Weekend (next stage). Pitch Crafting lasts from 3 October - 14 October 2022.
How will we be supported during this phase of the competition?
You and your team will be supported by a professional mentor in drafting your proposal and crafting your pitch. Project ID will also provide support in the form of supplementary workshops.
Do we need to get permission from our school to pilot our learning recovery project?
We strongly recommend you to obtain permission from your school prior to running your project. Discuss your ideas with your teacher-in-charge when drafting your project proposal to ensure it does not violate any school rules.
What is the mode of presentation of the pitch?
You can use Powerpoint presentations, but feel free to be as resourceful and creative as you can with your mode of presentation! Keep in mind that you will have to present your pitch virtually, so plan accordingly.
What kind of groups should I target in the learning recovery project?
Depending on the goals of your project, you may choose to involve students, teachers, or other education stakeholders affected by learning loss in Malaysia. Project ID recommends that you recruit your target group from your own school for ease of coordination.
YEC Weekend: Pitch!
When will YEC Weekend will be held?
It will be held for two days from 15 - 16 October 2022.
What format would the pitching follow?
Teams will draw lots to determine their timing slot for the pitch presentation. Then, teams will present their pitch to the PID team virtually, and the grant will be disbursed to each team after successful pitch presentations.
Who do we present our pitch to during the competition?
You will be presenting your pitch to the senior members of the Project ID team who have years of experience in project pitching, management and consulting.
Pilot Your Project
When will the Pilot Your Project phase be held?
It will be held from 17 October - 1 December 2022.
What is the timeline for piloting our project?
You will have approximately 6 weeks (17 October - 1 December 2022) to execute your pilot project and prepare your impact report. We recommend a 5-week timeline to execute your pilot project and create a video about your project; a 1-week timeline for impact reporting via a google form will be provided to you too. However, feel free to adjust the timeline according to the suitability of your pilot project.
What is the deadline for me to submit my impact report?
All teams must submit their video and impact report by 1 December 2022, 11.59pm via the Google Form provided. You may opt to submit before the deadline, but teams who submit after the deadline may face a penalty.
If we have planned or have already engaged with a social organisation personnel to do our pilot project with, do we still need our teacher involved?
The involvement of your teacher is a must for safety and accountability reasons.
Mentorship
How does the mentor engagement work?
Each team will be paired with a mentor who will be guiding them throughout the duration of the programme. Our mentors are professionals with diverse skill sets who will guide each team throughout their YEC journey.
Do we get to choose our own mentor?
All mentor-team pairings will be chosen by PID based on your team's specific characteristics according to your application.
How often do we check in with our mentor?
You will have a minimum of 4 check-ins with your mentor throughout the duration of YEC 2022. Your mentor will be involved in the Pitch Crafting, Pilot Your Project and impact report submission phases.
You may have more than 4 check-ins with your mentor, but the frequency and mode of contact will depend on your agreement with your mentor.
What are the mentors like?
YEC Mentors are all well-equipped leaders and changemakers in different industries, bringing knowledge that can guide you in pitch crafting and project execution.
Additional Questions
What is the medium of instruction for our learning recovery project?
You may conduct your learning recovery project in English or Bahasa Malaysia.
I am very interested to enter but I have bad access to internet connection. Would it be possible if I still join?
Do inform us by emailing us at yec@project-id.org OR call/WhatsApp +6011-56385016. We will try our best to support you on this matter.
Who owns the intellectual property for the learning recovery project created?
All ideas and projects created during the Young Educators Challenge belong to the participants and Project ID respectively. Due consideration will be given for the recognition to the originator of the idea.
How do I know if I am selected to become one of the participants?
We will reach out to you via email once the application period closes.
Questions?
If you have any additional questions that are not answered, feel free to contact the team at yec@project-id.org or message in our Instagram or Facebook.