Inspiring curiosity; encouraging collaboration; boosting accessibility; empowering responsible learners. These are just some of the ways educators from SJK(T) Jalan Parit Ibrahim in Pontian, Johor have described the impact that digital transformation is having on their school.
SJK(T) Jalan Parit Ibrahim became the first Tamil school in Malaysia to be recognized as a Microsoft Showcase School, now holding the title for two consecutive years. Guided by Microsoft’s Education Transformation Framework, leaders at the school embraced the power of technology to enhance the learning experience for students, while fostering essential future-ready skills.
Embracing technology to enhance education
As a low enrollment school in a small district, SJK(T) Jalan Parit Ibrahim had been lagging in terms of digital learning with very few computers available for use, neither by students nor teachers. Instead, teachers had to rely on limited resources in the traditional classroom setting to make the learning process more engaging for students.
But leaders at the school felt the urgency of equipping their students with digital literacy. “As an educator, my goal is to make sure our students have the skills they need not just to survive, but to thrive in the modern era,” explains Madam Vigneshwary Vediappan, Headmistress of SJK(T) Jalan Parit Ibrahim.
In line with the school’s tagline, “Towards Success,” teachers at SJK(T) Jalan Parit Ibrahim embarked on a Transformation Programme known as TS25, with the goal of integrating ICT technologies into their teaching and learning activities as much as possible. This started with requesting the use of more computers and laptops from the Ministry of Education (MOE).
Eventually, teachers at the school encountered Microsoft’s Showcase School initiative and recognized the opportunity to join a wider, global community of educators that shared their mission for transforming education through technology. Led by Karthik Perumar, the school’s IT teacher, they worked together to drive broad changes required to meet the program’s criteria. 
Teachers at SJK(T) Jalan Parit Ibrahim
Achieving sustainable education transformation
“To bring about transformation among our students, we as educators needed to transform ourselves first,” says Karthik. “Which is why we were ready to bring about changes to our teaching practices and participated in a variety of webinars, professional learning communities (PLCs), and online training sessions provided by Microsoft to level up our own digital skills.”
The Showcase Incubator Path is the first step on the multi-year transformation journey that culminates with becoming a Microsoft Showcase School. Schools go through the Incubator Path at their own pace, supported by Microsoft and its partners, while joining the Showcase School community to establish global connections and facilitate knowledge-sharing with other schools.
Along their journey, the team at SJK(T) Jalan Parit Ibrahim gained the support and assistance of Dr. Azma Abdul Hamid, CEO of Content Capital and one of Microsoft’s Global Training Partners (GTPs). Working closely with Karthik and his team, she guided them on meeting the program requirements while helping to address any challenges they faced.
The result: all eight educators at SJK(T) Jalan Parit Ibrahim achieved the Microsoft Innovative Educator (MIE) Expert qualification, which recognizes educators that have become skilled at integrating various Microsoft tools and technologies into the classroom. This includes Microsoft Learn, Microsoft Teams, Minecraft Education, and other Microsoft 365 products.
The school also undertook key initiatives to improve available IT facilities, including upgrades to Internet coverage and bandwidth as well as securing new laptops and LCD projectors to form a ‘smart classroom.’ These efforts were focused on promoting a more inclusive environment for learning with equitable access for all students to realize their full potential. 
SJK(T) Jalan Ibrahim embarked on several upgrades to IT facilities, including new laptops and LCD projectors to form a ‘smart classroom’
Empowering student-centered learning experiences
“We’ve discovered that embracing technology requires changing how our school operates, plans, trains, teaches, and learns”, states Karthik. “As we designed and implemented improvements for our school, our decisions were strongly influenced by the paths that other Showcase Schools were taking, as well as the resources they used in advancing their digital transformation journeys.”
Microsoft Teams was especially useful in modernizing workflows and processes, serving as an educational digital hub for the school. What began as a practice during the pandemic to regularly upload all classroom materials and lesson notes on Teams has now become standard practice among teachers to help students better keep up with their studies.
Teachers also turned to Minecraft Education to create engaging, immersive experiences that bring course material to life. “This has inspired students to be imaginative and inquisitive, empowering them to explore, construct, and study key concepts within the virtual worlds they develop and manage,” says Piremalahshini Nilavezhilan, one of the teachers at the school. 
Students at SJK(T) Jalan Parit Ibrahim using Microsoft Education during classroom lessons
Microsoft’s accessibility features and tools have also been helpful for students that have special educational needs. Sessions that are recorded on Teams for instance can be paired with functions such as the Translator, Read Aloud, and Immersive Reader functions – empowering visual or hearing-impaired students to follow course material at the same pace as other students.
Technology has also removed a lot of the fear of learning among students more broadly, highlights Karthik. “With tools that enabled them to take charge of their own learning, our students became much more responsible and engaged with their lessons. This was a huge difference from before, when they only focused on scoring well in their exams.”
Beyond students, teachers are seeing the benefits of digital transformation too. Tools like Microsoft Forms and Power BI have significantly sped up administrative procedures and tasks, saving valuable time and effort for more meaningful work. They have also been instrumental in unlocking data-driven insights to give student feedback, identify learning gaps, and more.
Preparing today’s students for tomorrow’s workforce
The team at SJK(T) Jalan Parit Ibrahim plans to continue building on the momentum from their second recognition as a Microsoft Showcase School to move towards a more mature culture of collaboration and innovation. To this end, they recently launched a Microsoft Self-Access Learning Centre for students to explore the latest tools and technologies from Microsoft.
“We’ve put in a lot of hard work into this centre with the hope that it will offer every single student the opportunity to become a digital expert, regardless of their age,” says Karthik. “We also have plans to use the centre as a platform to create more programs for students not only from our own school, but also students from other localities as well as from different countries”.
The newly launched Microsoft Self-Access Learning Centre at SJK(T) Jalan Parit Ibrahim
For more information on the Showcase Schools initiative check out the Program website. To apply to become a Showcase School, visit the Registration page.