Early Years

Mr Cheli holds a Master's in Educational Leadership from Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom. He completed his Bachelor of Education (Hons) in English Literature from University of Otago, New Zealand and certified in teaching English as a Second Language from Massey University, New Zealand. He also holds the National Professional Qualification of Educational Leaders (NPQEL) from MOE and has served as Vice Principal since 2007 for several schools including SMK Bandar Kuching (1) in Sarawak, SMK Sinar Bintang KL, and SMK Menjalara KL.

Throughout his 36-year career in school education, Mr Cheli has always shown great compassion for his students and colleagues and has been a leading innovator; introducing various programmes and initiatives that have had a great impact on Malaysian education. He is the founder of the ‘Reading Bus Club’, an NGO that provides books to marginalised children in rural and urban poor communities. The HELP or ‘Helpful English Language Programmes’ won him the Innovative Teacher of The Year Award in 1994.

Mr Cheli also founded ‘Positive Attitude Builds Character’ (www.pabc.my), an Attitude Management System that empowers students to take ownership of their education - while enabling teachers to teach without being overly burdened by classroom management - and engages parents to monitor their children’s educational growth and to journey with them. In his last year of service in public schools, he initiated and coordinated the ‘Cutting Edge Zones’ (CEZ) which involves the digitalization of classrooms to transform the way teachers teach and the way students learn.

As a reflection of his extraordinary career in education, Mr Cheli has won the ‘Excellent Service Award’ from the Ministry of Education on five occasions (1994, 2003, 2009, 2013 & 2019); an achievement very few public servants in Malaysian history have attained. With that, he brings with him a wealth of experience, knowledge, and skills to his role as Campus Principal of REAL Schools, Cheras Campus.