As Southeast Asia’s oldest English-medium school marks a milestone, its alumni are looking beyond nostalgia to AI, STEM and digital learning.

KUALA LUMPUR: Penang Free School (PFS) has been around long enough to have seen generations of students pass through its classrooms, watched career paths change, and witnessed education move from chalkboards to laptops.

The school motto, “Fortis Atque Fidelis” – strong and faithful – has endured across generations. Now, as it prepares to celebrate its 210th anniversary this October, the question is not only how to honour its past but how to prepare for what comes next.

PFS’s three-day celebration from Oct 1 to 3 will be the first major anniversary gathering since the school and its alumni marked its bicentenary a decade ago.

Organising committee chairman Ivan Ooi said the decision not to wait until the 250th anniversary was deliberate.

“We are not holding this event simply to celebrate an anniversary; it’s a call to all former students, or ‘Old Frees’, to come together and support the school, its teachers, and fellow Frees at an important moment,” he told Bernama.

At the heart of the anniversary is a plan to establish the Penang Free School Digital Transformation Fund. Its aim is to strengthen digital infrastructure, support teacher development, and expand opportunities in STEM, artificial intelligence, robotics and coding, while building closer links between the school and industry.

For Ooi, the need is obvious when he compares today’s education landscape with the one students faced 30 years ago.

Back then, academic subjects and examinations dominated, while many students were steered towards familiar careers such as medicine, law, engineering, teaching and business. Today, the possibilities are much wider.

“We now have a digital landscape that includes AI, data science, robotics and digital technology – whole new fields with opportunities and potential that remain largely untapped for current and future generations of PFS students,” he said.

That means preparing students not only to perform academically, but to move confidently into a world where technology is reshaping industries, jobs and leadership.

Heritage without standing still

Penang Free School remains fully funded and administered by the education ministry, with the government covering operating costs, teacher salaries and infrastructure.

Ooi stressed that the proposed fund is not meant to replace public funding, but to add resources that could help the school move faster in areas where technology and industry are evolving rapidly.

The idea is to bring together alumni, industry, the community and government support to create opportunities that go beyond what the school already has.

“We are not raising funds just to buy technology, but to build a talent pipeline that can support Penang’s economy in the future,” Ooi added.

The anniversary programme will include the school’s 210th speech day, “Free School Reunites” and a guided Free School walk, before culminating in the 210th anniversary dinner.

For alumni, it will be a chance to revisit old corridors and memories. For the school itself, it is an opportunity to think beyond its history and ask how a long-established institution can remain relevant in a century defined by rapid technological change.

Credit : Free Malaysia Today