Melaka, Malaysia, November 26, 2012 — Texas Instruments (TI) has sponsored The Asia Foundation’s Books for Asia program to distribute 5,000 brand-new books to all secondary schools in the state of Melaka and an additional 7,000 throughout Malaysia this year.
TI, which has operated a major facility in Kuala Lumpur for over more than 40 years, recently expanded operations to Melaka, through its September 2011 acquisition of National Semiconductor.
Through the grant, these new books, dedicated to specific reading levels and subjects of interest such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) textbooks suitable for secondary school students, were distributed to schools at a ceremony held at the Melaka state Educational Technology Division offices on Monday, October 22, 2012.
Representatives from all secondary schools in the state were present at the ceremony to receive their book donations. Officials from the Ministry of Education for the State of Melaka and executives from TI and The Asia Foundation also participated in the event.
TI Melaka’s Managing Director Doug Wilson spoke about the company’s commitment to education. “At TI, we believe that that supporting education today is critical to the success of our company and our communities tomorrow. By ensuring students have access to excellent materials and effective teaching we can help them excel in all subjects. We look forward to working together with The Asia Foundation and the Melaka State Ministry of Education to continue this work of encouraging strong literacy, science and math skills for all students in Melaka.”
In addition to the book donation, a portion of the grant will be used to help a select few schools in Melaka refurbish their school libraries. Furthermore, all schools in Melaka will be invited to participate in an essay writing competition where the winning school will receive additional donations from Books for Asia.
Books for Asia puts 1 million brand-new books – from children’s books to higher education reference materials – into the hands of students, educators, and local and national leaders across Asia every year. The Malaysia program annually brings in approximately 30,000 brand-new books from publishers such as McGraw-Hill, Pearson Education, W. W. Norton, Harvard Business Review Press, Macmillan, and Scholastic. These books are distributed to the country’s neediest schools and institutions.