JOHOR BARU, MALAYSIA - Students can now launch their own online newspapers on a website dedicated to e-learning. The facility is available in schools that subscribe to the newly-launched NiEXUS education portal, said New Straits Times Newspaper in Education assistant manager Hazlina Abd Aziz.

She said the online news can also be read by others with access to the website at http://niexus.emedia.com.my

"Students can start their own online newspapers and choose what they wish to see in print.

"They can take on the role of journalists and publish what they want to read in the online newspaper."

Hazlina, who was facilitating at the NIE Workshop for teachers at the New York Hotel here yesterday, said NiEXUS was free to schools under the School Sponsorship Programme (SSP) or those subscribing to the New Straits Times.

Some 50 teachers from schools around the state attended the workshop. Many were enthusiastic about the website's features which they said could complement the teaching of English.

Gan Song Chong, 52, an English teacher at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Mamat in Tangkak, believed the website would motivate learning with exercises like the "word-a-day", general knowledge and grammar and vocabulary games.

He said the school had been receiving 10 copies of the NST since 2005, courtesy of the then Tangkak state assemblyman Datuk Yap Chik Dong.

"We hope the new state assemblyman, Goh Tee Tee, will help the school continue with the programme as the newspaper has really helped in the classroom learning process," said Gan, who has been teaching for the past 31 years.

Sekolah Kebangsaan Parit Bilal English teacher, Hamimah Abdullah, 43, is keen to share what she learnt about the website with her students.

She said her school would be receiving 2,000 copies of the NST from February to September this year, courtesy of a member of the Parent-Teacher Association.

Hamimah, a teacher for the past 19 years, said it was difficult to sustain students' interest in English but believed that would change with the website.

Those who do not subscribe to the NST or who are not under the SSP sponsorship programme need to pay a registration fee of RM150 per year for access to NiEXUS.