Closing The Gap 2025 Cohort:
Mentor Application Form

| Resume a previously saved form
Resume Later

In order to be able to resume this form later, please enter your email and choose a password.

Password must contain the following:
  • 12 Characters
  • 1 Uppercase letter
  • 1 Lowercase letter
  • 1 Number
  • 1 Special character
Recruitment of Closing The Gap Malaysia's 9th Cohort of Mentors is open! 

Powered by Yayasan Tunku Abdul Rahman, Closing The Gap Malaysia is an initiative that supports underrepresented students to aspire for and enter high-quality universities. Our goal is to help them obtain places in quality universities, along with scholarships. We achieve this by exposing them to opportunities and supporting them in their applications, delivered through one-on-one mentoring, residential camp and workshops.

We are looking for proactive, persistent and passionate Mentors who are willing to form personal relationships to support, challenge and guide aspiring students in our programme. 

For more details regarding our programme, refer to our programme brochure here.

This form is divided into 6 sections:
Section A - Introduction
Section B - Personal Details
Section C - Personal Statements Note: Essay questions asked here
Section D - Child Protection & Safeguarding Note: Essay questions asked here
Section E - Background Check
Section F - Declaration of Commitment
*Disclaimer: 

Closing The Gap Malaysia takes selection and review mentor applications very seriously as the programme requires working with students closely under the age of 18 over 2 years. As such, the team will review applications thoroughly and conduct selection process in line with our child protection policy, which you can read here.
QUESTIONS

If you have any questions or concerns, email program@yayasantar.org.my with the subject "Closing The Gap Mentorship". 

SECTION A - INTRODUCTION

CLOSING THE GAP PROGRAMMES

The CTG Core programme is for students in Form 4, 5 or Lower 6 in 2025, living in the KL/ Selangor region. Scholar will undergo a series of workshops and development opportunities that boost their university and scholarship planning/ application skills, critical thinking and English communication skills. 


As a Mentor, you will:
- Build strong relationships with your mentees and push them to their highest potential
- Help your mentees identify and plan for their pre-university and university decisions, guiding them through their application choices
- Help them develop the skills they need to succeed (based on our student competencies). You can also use your networks to link your mentees up with other people who can provide them with subject advice or work experience opportunities
- Be part of a community of Mentors supporting each other's growth and journey as well as champion fair higher education access within your spheres of influence

Important: Please note that CTG Mentorship is voluntary in nature and that all Mentors are expected to commit at least 2 - 4 hours per month based on their own schedules for the duration of the programme.
MENTOR REQUIREMENTS, ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

CTG Core Programme
- Personalised mentorship (1 or 2 mentees)
- Commit to mentoring for TWO years (February 2025 to January 2027)
- Meet your mentee a minimum of 12 times in person over the 2 years
- Reside in the KL/Selangor region. 
Note: Mentors must be willing to travel to the place of meeting with mentee

Requirements
- Do not have a criminal record (we will conduct a criminal background check as part of the selection process)
- Have a Bachelor's degree in 2025 (We will also consider strong applications from students in their FINAL year of university in 2025)
- Commit to attending a COMPULSORY Mentor training workshop and a Launch Event in 2025
- Endeavour to attend at least one of our follow up trainings/focus groups in a year (and in the event that you are unable to, commit to having progress check discussions with the CTG team)
- Commit to staying in touch and communicating regularly with your mentee and the Closing The Gap team
- (Highly desirable) Have had experience applying for and securing scholarships 

If you would like to learn more or share about the programmes, please refer here: 
https://linktr.ee/closingthegap
  
RECRUITMENT & SELECTION PROCESS

Please complete the following form carefully and in complete sentences. We will shortlist applicants based on the quality of your responses.

Information shared here is kept confidential in Closing The Gap Malaysia, strictly for the purpose of our programme selection. We will not share information here with anyone else without your consent.

Shortlisted applicants will be called for a short interview. Applicants will be considered on a rolling basis, but all applicants should hear back from us latest by end February 2025.


SECTION B - PERSONAL DETAILS



(Please use the 123456-12-1234 format)



While the programme is conducted in English and we expect mentees to converse in English as much as possible, we also take into consideration whether mentors are able to speak the 1st language of our students as this has been shown to be a great advantage in the early stages of building the mentor-mentee relationship and trust. Please only list down languages you are conversational/fluent in.


Our mentor training workshop and CTG events will be held in central areas of KL/Selangor. For mentor-mentee meetings, mentors must be prepared to make your way to the meeting place of the mentee's convenience. We will endeavour to match mentors to mentees based on proximity. However, in the event that we are unable to do so, your answer below will help us in the matching process. Our furthest school will likely be in the vicinity of Port Klang or slightly beyond, so we will prioritise applicants who are willing to travel further out.






Please state degree obtained and university.

If you are in your final year of university in 2024, please indicate the role of your most significant leadership experience thus far in university. If none, indicate 'n/a'

If you are in your final year of university in 2024, please indicate the role of your most significant leadership experience thus far in university. If none, indicate 'n/a'




SECTION C - PERSONAL STATEMENTS

Please keep responses below 500 words.




This section asks you about your experiences applying for pre-university and university scholarships. This will help us determine how to best utilise your experience to benefit our mentees during the programme, who will aspire to apply for funding in order to enter the university of their choice. 

When we refer to scholarships here, we refer to all kinds of pre-university/university scholarships, including scholarships based overseas.




Section D - CHILD PROTECTION & SAFEGUARDING

All Closing The Gap staff/ Mentors/ volunteers have a professional duty to ensure the safety and protection of all children involved in its activities and spheres of influence.
Therefore, as part of the recruitment and selection process, Mentor applicants are required to read the Closing The Gap Child Protection Policy here: https://bit.ly/CTG2021_CPP

After reading the Child Protection Policy, answer the questions below. Please keep subjective responses below 500 words.




SECTION E - BACKGROUND CHECK
Due to the nature of the programme which involves working very closely with young Malaysians under the age of 18, we will need to carry out a background check in compliance with our child protection policy.

Please provide us with 2 referees. The referee can be your past or current employer, academic staff from university, or anyone who can prove that you are a person of good standing and conduct. However, your referee cannot be a friend, relative, or family member. 

For example, if you have ever worked with young or vulnerable persons in the UK, you would have been mandated to obtain a Criminal Records Bureau Check, also known as the Disclosure and Barring Service checks. Selecting 'no' in this question will not affect your application, as we will be falling back on your references provided below as well as our own background check later in the process.

As an added safety measure, all shortlisted mentors will undergo a criminal background check before formally beginning the programme. We will inform all mentors when this is conducted. You may also be required by our appointed background check service provider to sign a separate consent form and provide your IC number. Cost of the background check is borne by Closing The Gap. Refusal to undergo the check will disqualify your application.

Referee 1:





Referee 2:





SECTION F - DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT

You're almost at the end of the form! But before that, we need to make sure you know what you are signing up for. Ticking yes means that you have agreed to ALL commitments of the mentorship of the CTG Core programme. 

Unfortunately, we will not accept mentors who are unprepared to meet the following requirements. 

If you are unsure about your commitment but still want to support the programme in other capacities, please email us at program@yayasantar.org.my. 

In applying to be a mentor, you are committing to:
- Agreeing and abiding by CTG Malaysia's Child Protection Policy 
- Agreeing to have a criminal background check conducted before the commencement of the programme
- Attending our Mentor training sessions and Launch Event
- Meeting your mentee(s) in person a minimum of 12 times over 2 years, with 30 minutes preparation time for each meeting
-15-30 minutes each week to keep in contact with your mentees and arrange the next meeting - though this will vary significantly depending on the relationship you have with your mentee as well as your mentee’s schedule (e.g. contact time will reduce during crucial exam periods) 
- Keeping in touch with the CTG team (e.g. responding to surveys and providing updates)

I understand that failure to meet any of the above requirements without any due reason(s) can disqualify me from being a mentor for the CTG Core programme, according to the discretion of the CTG team.




Save my progress and resume later | Resume a previously saved form