KPEC (KPerak E-learning Cluster) is a collaborative program between KPerak INC Corporation, iNZed (Innovation New Zealand Education) and the Perak Department of Education whereby five schools were chosen for the pilot program. These schools were chosen because of the representation from each district within Perak State and are a mix of rural and urban primary and secondary schools.

The schools which were selected are

These schools will then interact amongst each other and also the other cluster schools in New Zealand through an online community, therefore forming a local and cluster. The structural focus of this pilot program is the development of a cluster-based model of professional development, where the members of the cluster are actively involved in contributing as well as drawing from the pool of expertise and shared experience.

The cluster-based approach differs from more traditional, instructor-led approaches in that it recognizes the experience and expertise of everyone in the community and therefore provides opportunities for this to be recognized and utilized. The cluster-based approach provides a means by which the members of the cluster draw on each other's strengths and experiences.

After all the celebration after the three months of the pilot program, the students and teachers are in for another round of excitement. The Right Honorable Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark will be in Malaysia for a visit and will be stopping by one of the cluster schools. During this visit, The Right Honorable will be trying out the facilities and will be conferencing live with some other cluster schools in New Zealand which will be broadcasted live to demonstrate the program.

KPerak INC Corporation together with UPSI (Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris), UTP (Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Perak State Education Department, Sun Microsystems, Frontline, JTrend and the Town and Country Planning State of Perak have collaborated to organize the Anak Perak Competition for Primary and Secondary Schools at District Level Competition and will be having the closing for this project.

The Anak Perak Competition involved Programming Training Camps whereby the primary and secondary students are required to develop programs in groups guided by their teachers where by they are taught to use the Java Applications Squeak and Matisse respectively.

The objective of this program is to build the confidence of the community especially the school students to have the culture of using ICT in their daily use which will then allow the community access to technology, skills in using technology and to ensure the continuous usage of technology for the community.

A total of 104 schools took part with a total of 420 students in this Anak Perak Program and 20 teams comprising of primary and secondary schools have managed to make it to the finals.

The final competition for the Anak Perak Program finally took place on 20 June 2006. 20 primary and secondary schools took part in this competition and it was a very exciting event. Each group was given a time slot to present their work on stage in front of a panel of national and international judges.

SMK Methodist (ACS) Manjung and SK Changkat Lada 2 emerged as champions and received BSN or Amanah Saham Premium Savings Certificate worth RM750 per person and a brand new Toshiba notebook for the teacher. For the second and third place winners, they received the Premium Savings Certificate worth RM500 and RM250 respectively and the teachers for those schools also received a brand new Toshiba notebook each.

Winners – Primary School
1.SK Changkat Lada 2 (Perak Tengah)
2.SJK (C) Sam Tet (Kinta 2)
3.SK Jelapang (Kinta 1)

Winners – Secondary School
1.SMK Methodist (ACS) (Manjung)
2.SMJK Hua Lian (Larut, Matang & Selama)
3.SMK Raja Perempuan Taayah (Kinta 2)

Wireless city is the Perak State Government’s plans to make wireless broadband internet services available to her citizens and is the first state in Malaysia to take up this project. Perak’s plan to provide wireless internet access to the city of Ipoh and to the rest of Perak is slowly firming its base. The Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) Internet facility is provided by Red Snapper (M) Sdn Bhd. The Perak State Government is expecting to see about 60% of the populated areas in the state to go wireless in September. With their very own Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) in place in Meru Raya slowly materializing, the state is expected to become the next regional hub for telecommunication services.

There are five spots in Perak at the moment which has free wireless internet access. The two current available places for free wireless internet access in Ipoh are the Ipoh Padang and also the D.R. Seenivasagam Park. As long as one has a notebook/laptop, mobile phone or hand held PDAs, one will be able to access the internet effortlessly. Ipoh is slowly getting set to wake up and smell the coffee and revive its once glorious state. Massive government plans are happening to finance the infrastructure to help produce development. With the MSC coming into place, more businesses and opportunities are opening up. With all the history and basic infrastructure, Perak is indeed a rich state that is just waiting to bloom again. Other than that, the other three places which offers wireless internet access to users is the Tapah Rest and Recreational Stop, the Bukit Merah Rest and Recreational Stop and the Semanggol Rest and Recreational Stop along the North-South Expressway which was kicked off in the third quarter of 2006. Visitors who stop by that area have been enjoying the free wireless internet service and will continue to do so. A few more Rest and Recreational Stops are slated to have wireless internet access available later on.

When the service is fully deployed, it will allow users to have Internet access everywhere in Perak. The wireless project should contribute US$10million to revenue in its first year of operation and about US$100million within the next five to ten years. This project is managed by Asia Getaway Communications, which owns wireless broadband solutions provider Red Snapper Sdn Bhd.

The Science and Maths Excellence through ICT workshop for Pure Science students have kicked off on 16 June 2007 at SERATAS (Sekolah Menengah Sains Raja Tun Azlan Shah), 23 June 2007 at SEMESTI (Sekolah Menengah Sains Teluk Intan) and 30 June 2007 at STAR (Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman). This workshop designed to help the Pure Science Streams in schools to cope and learn how to do Additional Mathematics and Physics the smarter way will last 5 weeks at each school.

With a study smart not study hard approach, Mr Sunny Yee demonstrates ways and skill of how to simplify and an easier way of understanding the problems and getting the solutions. These workshops will be conducted by Sunny Yee who is a seasonal education columnist (The Star, publishing Physics and Additional Mathematics), writer (F1 F4 Additional Mathematics and Physics in English published by The Star), author (The Star Publication: Teknik Menjawab Soalan Fizik SPM Interaktif, Success in SPM Additional Mathematics, and Success in SPM Physics) and conducts mathematics and science tutorials.

The E-Tutor program will be starting soon early July where by three workshops will be held simultaneously to cater to the UPSR, PMR and SPM students. These workshops will be held also in the Northern, Central and Southern regions of Perak to cater to all the 116 schools for this program. E Tutor is ’virtual teacher’ software that teaches students to solve ALL the questions in their Mathematics or Science books through a step-by-step manner as well as using problem solving approach. The E Tutor software is only available for download at Andaman Publications website exclusively for their customers.