Latest news with #TOY8
The Sun
22-07-2025
- Health
- The Sun
A digital revolution transforms early assessment
WHEN Shun Matsuzuka was diagnosed as dyslexic at the age of 19, he was pursuing his foundation year at art school in the UK. It came as a total shock to him. As a child he enjoyed learning, but could not quite understand why his grades did not reflect his efforts or his curiousity in learning. 'That discovery at age 19 proved significant, as it helped me understand that my challenges were not due to lack of ability but rather a different way of processing information. It changed how I saw myself and later how I supported others facing similar struggles,' said Shun, who made the decision to move to Malaysia in 2017. He had worked as creative director for a global advertising agency in Japan. It was also a pivotal moment for Shun when he became a father. He preferred his daughter to grow up in a diverse environment, which Malaysia offered, due to its multicultural identity and culture. When his daughter turned 3 years, Shun received a government issued notice from Japan for a standardised developmental check-up in Japan for her. This he then realised was the missing gap in Malaysia, where there was no systematic developmental screening for children in the crucial ages of 3 to 5 years. Why develop a digital tool for assessment? 'After I became a parent, I was determined to build a tool that would help other children like me – before they start falling behind. That determination led to the creation of TOY8, which later when I introduced the screening aspect became known as TOY8 screening,' said Shun, who teamed up with a former Nintendo game director to co-design the app. The digital screening and intervention tool was also built in collaboration with Sunway University, University of Malaya and the Clinical Research Centre (CRC) of Ministry of Health (MOH). Dato' Dr Amar-Singh HSS, Consultant Pediatrician and child disability advocate said, 'Most Malaysian children receive surveillance and screening for developmental disabilities until the age of 18 months, linked to the Ministry of Health's (MOH) primary vaccination programme. Some may opt out to see private pediatricians. 'However, from the age of 2 to 6 years, most children do not receive any routine surveillance or screening. 'Developmental surveillance is also expensive in the private sector and limited. Hence important developmental disabilities such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, intellectual disabilities, attention deficit disorder (ADHD) and other specific learning disabilities, such as dyslexia are not identified. As a result, many children enter school, unable to face the academic challenges. For 2024, MOE reported that 122,000 year one students, which represents 24% of children for that age, lacked the essential skills of reading, writing and counting,' said Dr Amar-Singh. Today TOY8 screening provides parents with an invaluable opportunity to have their child screened; using this AI-powered digital screening tool in preschools so as to identify the children with learning disabilities early. TOY8 is revolutionary due to the time taken to screen the child, in total twenty minutes and the child-centred design and playful interaction is highly engaging for young children to use. Implementation of the TOY8 screening tool The developmental TOY8 screening project has been successfully introduced both in Sarawak and Selangor. The Sarawak state government offered TOY8 the opportunity to pilot the digital screening tool in preschools. In 2024, Shun launched the first pilot programme in Sarawak with 301 children. More than 30 children were identified as needing developmental support. 'We worked closely with local educators and health professionals to provide targeted interventions for each child. In 2025, the programme is expanding to reach 600 children across the state,' said Shun. In Selangor, the system is being spearheaded through organisations such as KEMAS, the community development department, an agency which manages preschools and the Selangor Children's Heritage Foundation, also referred to as Yayasan Warisan Anak Selangor (YAWAS). TOY8 is now preparing to present this Sarawak based model as a regional policy proposal at the 2025 ASEAN Business Summit, to be held in October this year and hosted by Malaysia. 'What began as a local effort has evolved into a globally recognised initiative. Sarawak's model is now seen as a towering initiative of how data and digital innovation can enable inclusive education to function as a full eco-system –integrating health, education and family support,' added Shun.
Borneo Post
08-07-2025
- Health
- Borneo Post
Sarawak early childhood devt programme to be showcased at 2025 Asean business summit
A teacher supervises a child while he completes his daily 10-minute intervention programme at SeDidik UTC in Kuching. KUCHING (July 9): A Sarawak-based pilot programme for early childhood implemented through the Ministry of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development (KPWK) is set to be presented at the 2025 Asean Business Summit as a potential regional policy model for childhood development and education. Led by the National Early Childhood Intervention Council (NECIC) and Japanese healthcare and education company TOY8, the initiative is a digital screening and intervention model developed in collaboration with University of Malaya, Sunway University, and a team of Japanese clinical psychologists. The model is designed to detect and address developmental delays in key areas such as gross motor skills, fine motor skills, speech and language, cognitive abilities, and social development. SeDidik educators being trained on how the intervention programme works. In 2023, the pilot has screened around 300 preschool children in Sarawak and provided intervention programmes for 10 per cent of children. This year, the programme is set to expand to reach 450 children across Sarawak. Originally, the programme started off at SeDidik preschools which are owned by the Sarawak government under KPWK, but it has since begun spreading to other preschools such as those under the Association of Kindergarten Operators Sarawak (AKO). Developmental gaps closed by an average of 3 months Speaking to The Borneo Post, TOY8 Founder and Co-CEO Shun Matsuzaka shared that the preliminary findings of the pilot programme in Sarawak have been extremely encouraging. 'The results showed that children at the end of the programme saw their cognitive abilities grow by 9.15 months, language skills by 7.13 months, and fine motor skills by 10.60 months. Overall, this is 8.96 months of developmental improvements within the six-month intervention period,' he said. He explained that this meant children who have undergone the programme had their developmental delay gap close by three months. 'This is all from just 10 minutes of intervention a day, and most encouragingly was the improvement in language as we originally thought that it would be very challenging for us to target. 'This is because language is the core of development and if the children are unable to speak they can't really grow their cognitive abilities,' he shared. Proven economic value & efficacy A preliminary cost-benefit analysis conducted by an expert panel of health economists, researchers and pediatric specialists from the Ministry of Health (MoH), NECIC and National Institute of Health (NIH) found that the screening tool alone has a cost-benefit ratio of 1.8. 'This means that if you invest RM1 million into implementing the screening tool, then society will benefit RM1.8 million in the future from increased future lifetime earnings of the children, lower healthcare costs, reduced drop-out rates, and minimised loss of productivity from parents,' Matsuzaka explained. He clarified that the 1.8 cost-benefit ratio was only for the screening tool itself and does not include the intervention programme. While there are no preliminary figures yet for the possible cost-benefit ratio for the intervention programme, Matsuzaka highlighted that other early intervention programmes in the US have shown cost-benefit ratios ranging from 10 to 20 times. Additionally, he shared that there is currently an ongoing research study by the Clinical Research Centre (CRC) to validate the efficacy of the digital screening tool. The study is led by CRC head Dr Toh Teck Hock who is currently also serving as a pediatrician at Sibu's Lau King Howe Memorial Children Clinic in Agape Centre that focuses on special needs children. Endorsement from educators The screening tool and intervention programme has also gotten a vote of confidence from educators, with SeDidik general nanager Ayub Dahari sharing that educators have reported developmental changes in participating children. Ayub Dahari, General Manager, Sedidik Sarawak general manager Ayub Dahari speaks to The Borneo Post. 'When we first started this model, I believed it would help parents of special needs children and the children themselves to be able to better support themselves. 'But with the model in place, we have also found that it is effective in helping us convince parents that their children are in need of help, allowing us to get them the help they need earlier,' he said. He added that that the structured programme has also given his teaching force the confidence to do intervention by themselves and to implement certain aspects into their regular syllabus, further supporting strong development of all their students. Currently, the TOY8 programme is being piloted in around 20 SeDidik centres, but Ayub hopes that by the end of the 13th Malaysia Plan in 2030, they will be able to spread it to the rest of its 107 centres across the state. 'And by then, hopefully other agencies and associations will also be able to take up this initiative for the children of Sarawak.' Regional expansion underway As for Matsuzaka, he is hopeful that the Toy8 programme will be able to spread beyond Sarawak and eventually across Asia. Founder and Co-CEO of TOY8, Shun Matsuzaka. Highlighting the importance of Sarawak as a pioneer for this type early childhood development model, he explained that the selection of Sarawak for the pilot programme is partially due to Sarawak's strong commitment towards inclusive education given our 99 per cent preschool participation rate. He added that Sarawak's example could serve as proof of concept for other Asean nations. 'Most early childhood development models come from rich countries like Scandinavian countries where they have more resources. We want to show it can work here in Asean too.' Based on the success in Sarawak, the programme began rollout in Singapore, Indonesia, and other Asean countries in 2024. TOY8's broader goal is to help build an AI-enabled early childhood development infrastructure that scales across Asia—originating from Malaysia. How does the model work? Under the model, preschoolers aged 3 to 5 will undergo a series of activities that are designed to look like a fun smartphone game, while their parents or caretakers will answer a standardised questionnaire. AI then analyses the results and generates a developmental report, which is shared with teachers and parents. If the child is identified as having mild to moderate delays, a personalised six-month intervention programme is generated. These programmes, available in both Malay and English, are play-based and designed with input from experts within the gaming industry such as former game directors from Nintendo and Capcom. Teachers then implement the activities daily, which take only 10 minutes, and a final progress report is provided at the end of the programme to show insights into the child's growth to support continued development. To reach more rural communities, TOY8 is also working on an offline version using paper-based materials. The initiative is currently supported by several prominent global philanthropic organisations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, Hong Leong Foundation, and The Nippon Foundation. It has also received support from the government of Japan.
