Elvina Oey is a veteran with 15 years of experience running two I Can Read centres in the town of Kelapa Gading. Ms Oey decided to get in the education business because she felt reading is a required life skill for everyone, she tells us. “Education is my passion. Teaching and conversing with children has always been my interest. As Fyodor Dostoevsky said, ‘the soul is healed by being with children’.

“Education is also the best form of investment. Not only financially but also as a contribution to society. People will always need to learn. I, myself, have been engaged in education for a decade and I love it,” said Ms Oey. 

“I Can Read uses a unique programme that our competitors lack. It is a structured reading programme that uses a proprietary code card and screener. It allows students to continue learning to read at home on their own, with the skills they’d learned in class,” said Ms Oey proudly. “It builds an excellent foundation to stack further literacy skills taught in primary school. Students fall in love with reading because they’re not rote learning. They learn to understand the text and gain confidence in their literacy through fun and interactive class settings.”

Ms Oey chose to run I Can Read centres because the brand recognition is strong and in very good standing. “It sets us apart from the competition,” said Ms Oey.

However, Ms Oey doesn’t think everyone should be in the education business. It takes a special type of personality. “First and foremost, you should possess a passion for education. The business is not just about ‘adding another child to your school’; you have to make sure they benefit from your programmes,” advised Ms Oey. Another piece of advice Ms Oey shared was to recruit the right teachers. “They need to be passionate about teaching and education. You should also be trained, so you can understand the curriculum. Then empower your staff to be your eyes and ears. With all these in place, the centre will run on its own steam,” said Ms Oey.

“We’ve also had tremendous support from the I Can Read team from headquarters. From setting up to renovation, recruitment, training and operations, they’ve been with us every step of the way,” added Ms Oey.

Counting on I Can Read’s continual support, Ms Oey said: “With both my centres hitting its projected growth, I hope to start an I can Read preschool as well as another I Can Read enrichment centre in the next five years.