K.I.T.A session preparing students for further study

TANJUNG ARU – About 30 participants, comprising of students who have completed SPM & STPM, together with their parents, attended the Keep-In-Touch-Always (K.I.T.A) session  Apr 27, 2014 held at Stella Maris Church parish hall.

Organized by the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC), the objective of the talk was to prepare students intending to go for further studies within Malaysia on the challenges they may face,  and the importance of keeping in contact with the Catholic Church, by being involved with Catholic Students’ Groups on campuses and colleges so as to keep their faith alive.

The session began with sharing from 3 youths who have experienced studying at universities and colleges in West Malaysia, Labuan and Sabah. One of them have completed matriculation studies in Labuan and is currently studying at University Malaysia Sabah.

They shared on the challenges faced in areas of faith, studies, influence of friends, difficulty to get to the nearest Catholic Church, finance, amongst many others.

They also shared tips on how to overcome these challenges, by creating study and support groups among Catholics, praying together in the groups, keeping close contact with family at home, making friends with Catholic taxi drivers who can bring them to church every Sunday, and being involved with Catholic groups on campus and college.

This was followed by a talk given by Neil Mah, chairman of Tg Aru PPC, on the objectives of K.I.T.A, common challenges faced by campus and college students (faith, culture studies, finance, social, and family), importance of living the Christian faith and staying connected to the Catholic Church, know their rights and responsibilities as Catholic students, and other pertinent questions which need to be looked into (study interest, course content, quality of intended institution, length of study, entry criteria, fees, job opportunity after graduation).

The session ended with a brief time allocated for questions from the floor.

K.I.T.A registration forms were then distributed and collected. These forms would be submitted to the Archdiocesan Campus Ministry Office, who in turn would pass them on to their counterpart where the students are studying, with the purpose of connecting and giving the necessary support.

PPC will conduct another similar session in August to prepare students enrolling for September university and college intake.

K.I.T.A., formerly known as Stay-In-Touch-Always (S.I.T.A.), is an initiative of the Malaysian Catholic Student Council launched in April 2003, with the objectives of: (a) creating awareness on students life on campus and ways to face the challenges that they may face; (b) creating a forum for students to deepen their faith; and (c) sharing knowledge and skills on Rights and Responsibilities. – Neil Mah