Out-of-school Malaysians find their SOLS

Eighteen-year-old Neomi from Sabah, Malaysia, finished only Grade 5 because of financial problems. She worked as a sales assistant in a boutique to help her parents, both traditional craftspeople.

After several months of training at Science of Life Studies (SOLS) 24/7, Neomi now dreams of becoming a trainer herself and teaching underprivileged youths.

SOLS 24/7 is a nonprofit education program providing free two-year training and boarding to out-of-school youths or poor students who cannot afford higher education.

“We teach them information and communications technology (ICT), Office Suite, Internet, basic math and accounting skills, and English,” cofounder and international director Raj Ridvan Singh said.

Students are also taught leadership and character skills to be “life smart” and “spiritual smart.”

The Microsoft Asia Pacific regional team gave a tour of a SOLS 24/7 youth development center in Malaysia during the recent Accelerating Asia Pacific summit.

SOLS 24/7 is a beneficiary of the Microsoft-supported TechSoup Asia, which allows nonprofit organizations to ask for a wide range of software product donations, including operating system, Microsoft Office and server products.

Malaysian Madenjit Singh, a “certified lecturer of the mind sciences and a dedicated social worker,” founded SOLS 24/7 in Cambodia in 2000, together with his sons Dhinu Dhanveer and Raj.

SOLS 24/7 now has more than 60 community centers in six countries—Cambodia, Timor Leste, Malaysia, Laos, Japan and Singapore. It has become the largest provider of nonformal education in Cambodia.

“Wherever you go, they want education, especially if it’s cheap. So we fit in,” Raj said during the orientation.

The day-to-day operations of SOLS 24/7 were financed by their family business, Raj said. About 80,000 youths have been trained using the curriculum designed by Raj and his father.

Raj said they made it a point that an equal number of boys and girls were accommodated.

“They improve our English, they teach us to be confident and overcome our shyness,” Neomi told the Inquirer.

The SOLS center in Malaysia is in a modest building with a multipurpose hall on one floor, separate lodgings for boys and girls, and a floor for the classrooms. The rooftop, complete with a stage for regular programs, serves as a venue for socials.

Recent visitors who toured the complex found one class practicing conversational English while another was playing a computer game, which honed their typing skills.

One room held refurbished desktop computers. SOLS has a computer program that accepts PC donations. They repair the computers and donate them to other charity organizations. A small percentage is sold at low prices in rural areas. SOLS Computers is a registered Microsoft refurbisher.

Raj said many students dropped out after their first year “because they can find jobs already with the skills they learned.”

It is one of the missions of SOLS to “establish urban networks that provide youths with the necessary support to gain employment or start their own business that will indirectly help rural economic systems.”

Nineteen-year-old Justin from Sarawak, Malaysia, is one of those who aspire to start a business after training at SOLS. With the ICT skills he gained, he plans to put up a computer repair business.

Some graduates have become trainers in other SOLS centers or other nonprofit organizations. With a training center in Sabah being planned, Neomi hopes to be a trainer in her community.

Raj said the cycle helped sustain the program. “Train students to be trainers, make them give back,” he said.