EDUCATION MINISTRY'S NATURAL DISASTER SMART SUPPORT TEAM LAUDED

MELAKA (Malaysia), Nov 6 (Bernama) -- The Education Ministry's natural disaster response team called the "Smart Support Team, Ministry of Education" (SST MOE),comprising counselling teachers from throughout Malaysia, has won support domestically and internationally.

Its minister Hishammuddin Hussein said SST MOE, the only humanitarian aid
programme which focused on children, had drawn the interest of Unicef to propose
the programme to be adopted by a similar programme under the United Nations.

He said SST MOE would also be a showcase for member countries at the
Commonwealth Ministers of Education Conference which Malaysia would host in June
2009.

"The setting up of SST MOE which has 1,000 members so far, has received the
support of Unicef Malaysia and Mercy Malaysia in terms of expertise and
training," he told reporters after closing the 3rd Counselling Teachers and
National Counselling Conference, here Thursday.

He said the idea to set up SST MOE came when he saw how the big flood in
the country at the end of 2006 had affected the victims, especially
children.

"The task and responsibility of SST MOE is to lift the spirits of the young
victims and to guide and motivate them to ensure their emotional development is
not affected by the natural calamities."

He said counselling teachers had in the past, also been directly
involved in helping victims cope with natural disasters, including the tsunami
in December 2004 and the big floods in the country in 2006 and 2007.

"I am confident SST MOE will achieve the objectives of its establishment
and may even be able to extend its services to other countries one day."