MISSION & PILLARS
HISTORY
Formerly known as Projek Kalsom, The Kalsom Movement is an independent and voluntary student-led charity movement registered in Malaysia as Kelab Belia Kalsom under Registrar of Youths (PPBM 8086/12) which specialises in tackling education inequality in Malaysia.
The movement has been fully endorsed by Malaysia’s Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Rakan Muda, Education Malaysia in the United Kingdom and Ireland as well as the Malaysia Book of Records for the longest running-student-led motivational camp.
Since it was established in 1994, the movement has benefited more than 4000 beneficiaries via its numerous initiatives and programmes.
The Kalsom Movement, focuses on developing Malaysia’s future leaders by empowering university students to share their knowledge and skills to help younger economically-disadvantaged Malaysian students achieve their ambitions. In turn, our volunteers also benefit from discovering their own leadership potentials and organisational skills as well as becoming more perceptive of issues surrounding education inequality in Malaysia which will hopefully instil a sense of civic awareness towards their local community and towards the country as whole. We believe in the importance of education in eradicating poverty and propagating upward social mobility and our projects reflect this agenda.
In 2014, Projek Kalsom was no longer a collaborative effort but became an independent, non-profit and student-led voluntary charity movement, rebranded as ‘The Kalsom Movement’. Today, The Kalsom Movement has organised several programmes involving hundreds of primary and secondary school students – in a long term and sustainable manner. We also recruit facilitators who are Malaysian university students studying locally and abroad. To date, The Kalsom Movement has benefited nearly 4000 students. Twenty-six years on, The Kalsom Movement committee aims to ensure that the Kalsom spirit is well and alive in today’s generation.
MISSION
To empower underprivileged students with awakened potentials to pursue excellence in life and to develop their capacity to contribute to society through holistic development.
VISION
The Kalsom Movement aims to address education inequality in Malaysia by bridging the knowledge and opportunity gap faced by underprivileged students in rural areas, benefiting students regardless of gender, race and religion and resulting in impactful contribution to the development of society and the nation.
HISTORY TIMELINE
THE KALSOM MOVEMENT'S PILLARS
- English Language Proficiency
Many students from poor families are not raised in an English-speaking environment. The movement strives to create a safe and encouraging environment and a support system for our student-participants to develop their interest in learning English and competency in practising the language. All the modules conducted aim to encourage the students to use English in a fun and interactive manner. This will hopefully spark the students’ interest to further continue using English as a medium to communicate in daily life.
- Development Of Academic And Non-Academic Skills
Academic skills such as note-taking, smart study and time-management skills are important for students who are going to sit for important examinations such as the SPM. We aim to equip the student-beneficiaries with the right technique to possess these skills through interactive modules. Apart from that, non-academic skills such as leadership, teamwork, creative-thinking and entrepreneurial skills are equally important and will be highlighted.
- Exposure To Post-Secondary Education Opportunities
Observations from previous programmes have shown that most of our students-participants did not aim to pursue tertiary education. This is due to either loss of interest in their studies, lack of knowledge on educational pathways after secondary school, family obligations or financial difficulties. We especially thrive to expose the students to the importance of tertiary education and the opportunities available, including both traditional and non-traditional subjects and pathways. The facilitators who come from various backgrounds of study from institutions worldwide personally inspire and guide them to take baby steps towards their ambitions.
- Nurturing The Kalsom Spirit
The Kalsom Spirit is the enthusiasm to help people in need and to give back to the society within our own capacities as school students, youth leaders and as working adults. As a student-led movement promoting volunteerism and empowering through inspiration, we encourage our student-participants to see themselves as agents of change after attending our programmes and to know that they can make a difference to someone’s life through their individual strengths. In this spirit, we welcome and highlight the initiatives of youth leaders and stakeholders in making a positive impact to the society.
MODEL OF ACTION

ACHIEVEMENTS & HIGHLIGHTS
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2011
Projek Kalsom Motivational Camp was presented as one of the most influential Malaysian community projects at the 2011 One Young World ‘Impact’ Conference in Zurich, Switzerland.
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2012
Endorsed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Malaysia and Rakan Muda in 2012. With this endorsement, facilitators who are doing the International Award for Young People (Gold Level) scheme (also known as the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award in the UK) can include Projek Kalsom Motivational Camp as their “Residential Project”.
Projek Kalsom 17 Motivational Camp’s online video and media were selected as the Top 10 2012 DiGi Malaysia Google Most Inspiring Internet for Good Award.
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2013
In 2013, the first Commonwealth Cultural Programme (CCP) was organised for the first time as a collaborative effort with the Royal Commonwealth Society through Bristol Student Commonwealth Society and created history through the involvement of non-Malaysian facilitators (British university students).
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2014
Projek Kalsom Motivational Camp 20 was officially endorsed by the Malaysia Book of Records as the longest running student-led motivational camp in Malaysia in 2014. Kelab Belia Kalsom also received an official endorsement by Education Malaysia in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
In 2014, Kelab Belia Kalsom was selected as a finalist by DiGi Malaysia for Telenor Youth Summit in Oslo.
The Kalsom Movement was selected to submit a paperwork on behalf of Majlis Perwakilan Pelajar Luar Negara to Majlis Perundangan Pelajar Kebangsaan chaired by YAB Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, then Minister of Education in 2014.
Selected to be in Top 10 (Education and Community) for the highly prestigious Merdeka Award - making us the only student-led and voluntary entity under it.
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2015
The Kalsom Movement was selected by Yayasan Bursa Malaysia to be one of the 8 beneficiaries under its Bursa Bull Charge programme for two consecutive years (2015-16), making it the only student-led and voluntary entity under the scheme.
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2016
In 2016, The Kalsom Harapan One-Year Monitoring Plan was executed for the first time among Projek Kalsom 21 beneficiaries, allowing all 10 participating schools to run their own Kalsom Academy.
Not only that, Confidence in English Programme (CEP) and Entrepreneurship & Innovation Camp (EIC) were introduced for the summer programmes.
We also received the highest number of facilitator applications; a total of 365 applications from 6 countries.
Furthermore, TKM was invited for an exclusive submission of research paperwork on youth volunteerism to the National Student Consultative Council.
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2017
Secured sponsorship by Shell which provided The Kalsom Movement to run the organisation for two years.
Implementation of programming module in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Camp as a part of STEM.
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2018
The Kalsom Movement is an official partner for Sustainable Development Goals covering two goals;
Goal 4: Quality of Education and
Goal 17: Partnership for the goals
chaired by the Education Minister of Malaysia.
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2019
Kalsom in Oxford Leadership Camp in collaboration with Youth Fuel was launched.
Finalist for Europa Award for Sustainability EUMCCI 2019