A core objective is to prepare students for AI-driven disruption, with research indicating up to 28 million ASEAN jobs could be affected by 2030, underscoring the urgency to upskill.

Sunway University co-leads Malaysia’s National AI Competition for students aged 14–19, with over RM2 million in bursaries and more than 5,000 participants anticipated in the year.

Competition activities include masterclasses, proposals due in early May, finalists announced mid-May, and a grand final on June 13 at Sunway University, aiming for long-term impact beyond a single event.

The program aims to create a sustainable, scalable AI education model that empowers students to apply AI practically and responsibly, driving broader regional impact.

Malaysia’s broader digital transformation includes integrating AI across education levels, but resource constraints and a shortage of trained teachers slow rapid AI curriculum updates.

To reach more students, the program blends online onboarding with in-person school workshops, uses a train-the-trainer model, and has already reached 3,016 students and trained 54 teachers, boosting AI understanding by 34.1% and teachers’ confidence by 18.68%.

Rakan Tutor prioritizes foundational AI literacy—how AI works, ethics, responsible use, and using AI for social good—to reduce fear and enable real-world problem solving.

The initiative offers about 40 nano modules for self-paced learning, focusing on AI fundamentals, ethics, and social good, complemented by on-site workshops and online onboarding.

Rakan Tutor, a Malaysian non-profit, has secured a €10 million EU Youth Empowerment Fund grant and over RM2 million in competition prizes to scale AI education across Southeast Asia.

The EU funding will regionalize the model in Asia-Pacific with locally tailored content, partnerships across schools, NGOs, and government agencies, plus regional training cohorts and competitions.

Funding supports expanding beyond Malaysia through localized materials, school and government partner networks, and regional training and competition programs.

The broader narrative frames AI education as essential to Malaysia’s digital transformation and regional leadership, backed by government and policy support through partnerships and large grants to scale practical AI learning in schools.