PEC

PENANG EDUCATION COUNCIL was formed under the State Government Executive Council for Education to facilitate input from educationists on how to assist the State Government in developing and positioning Penang into a prominent centre for learning and education. It was set up to facilitate continuous quality improvement in cultivation of skills, mental, moral and aesthetic development as well as informal education.

The Council's mission is to act as a catalyst for change by providing the platform for lively exploration of new ideas and stimulating the exploration and development of innovative solutions, thereby contributing to Penang's development as the foremost centre for education and learning in the country.

Based on the recognition of education as a basic human right and the principle of Education for All, the Council will promote and support projects without bias, prejudice or discrimination on any grounds.

The Council's objectives are:

1. To promote a culture of continuous and life-long learning.
2. To enrich the lives of ordinary citizens by supporting innovative, creative and enjoyable learning experiences that will stimulate new interests, cross cultural exchanges, widen intellectual horizons and motivate more self-expression.
3. To stimulate greater interest in the fields of culture, the arts and heritage.
4. To provide avenues for school-aged children to have exposure to a different range of learning experiences outside the formal classroom curriculum and setting.
5. To support projects that will promote greater awareness of and improve services available to specific target groups that require special attention due to disabilities, special needs, limitations of current institutions or gaps in formal educational teaching.
6. To formulate, pioneer and coordinate outreach and/or action-orientated programs that focus on social issues that demand more attention (eg mental health issues) or target groups of particular importance in education (e.g. pre-school children, drop-outs from the formal education system.
7. To support promotions of the development of Penang as an education hub.

In working towards these objectives, the Council will play a complementary catalyst role in bringing together and strengthening the partnership between various stakeholders - the government and its various agencies, civil society organisations, private institutions, academia, research institutions and individuals, whose activities or entity does not involve in commerce or profiteering such as non-profit organisations that offers volunteering efforts. It will strategically implement programmes, projects and initiatives that serve to meet gaps in the current formal education system or explore new ways of meeting broader educational ideals.