Sabahan student wins national skills competition

KOTA KINABALU (Sept 19): Chriscaseyvel Erey, an 18-year-old third-year Early Childhood Education student at Keningau Vocational College (KVC), emerged as the champion in the national-level skills competition known as KV Skills for the Teaching Aids category.

The contest was held at ERT Setapak Vocational College on September 9 and it was organized by the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Division (TVET) of the Ministry of Education or more commonly known as BPLTV. This category was introduced for the first time this year as one of the categories in the KV Skills competition that was initiated by BPLTV years ago.

A total of 14 participants competed from seven vocational colleges across Malaysia that offer Early Childhood Education program, with each college sending two representatives for the category.

Chriscaseyvel received a certificate along with RM300 in cash, while second and third places went to participants from Kuala Kangsar Vocational College of Perak and Tawau Vocational College, Sabah. Another student from the same college, Rusell Razali, also won a prize as the fifth-place winner.

The competition tested the creativity, neatness and usability of teaching aids based on a given theme, with each participant given four hours to complete their design using the provided tools and materials.

The theme for this year’s category was “marine life” and Chriscaseyvel successfully created a box resembling an aquarium decorated with an underwater scene and marine creatures, featuring a unique characteristic of being able to open and close.

During the product presentation to the judges, Chriscaseyvel used storytelling and demonstration techniques as though she was teaching children. This creative design and engaging presentation technique earned her the highest score and victory in the category.

The college director, Lumang anak Lang, who was also present at the competition, expressed great joy that the student had made history by becoming the first winner of this newly introduced category.

He hopes this achievement will inspire other students to work harder in mastering the specialized skills that they are learning at the college.

Apart from Chriscaseyvel, KVC also represented Sabah in seven other categories at the national level KV Skills held in Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan in 2025.