The recent incident of a nine-year-old girl in Sarawak being denied access to education because of her documentation status is heart-wrenching.
She is one of a large number of children in Malaysia, some born to Malaysian parents, who have been denied their basic right to education.
A conservative estimate suggests that more than 300,000 children in Malaysia are currently denied education as a result of being stateless, refugees, asylum-seekers or undocumented.
What is confusing is that this denial of access to education takes place in the face of national policies that support education for all children in Malaysia, regardless of their documentation status.
Here is a summary of national policies that support education for all:
1. The National Education Policy (2017, page 22) states that primary education is compulsory for all children aged 6 to 12, and this includes non-citizens.
2. The Zero Reject Policy launched in 2018 was aimed to ensure that all children in the country, including undocumented children, will have access to education.
3. In May 2021, then-Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin reiterated in a Teacher’s Day speech that the government pledges to ensure that no student in Malaysia will be denied a proper education, including undocumented children.
Hence, we need to ask why this is not effective on the ground? Why are schools asking for citizenship documents before admitting children for basic education?
We no longer have a Zero Reject Policy, but a Sure to Reject Policy, if the child is undocumented.
Why do the large number of stateless Malaysians (an oxymoron) in Sabah and Sarawak continue to be denied the same rights as the rest of our children?
Why are refugee children in detention denied even basic reading and writing skills?
Is this a problem of local “little Napoleons” or a backtracking of policy by the Ministry of Education (MOE), which goes against the Prime Minister’s promises?
A recent detailed analysis by Dr Tharani Loganathan and colleagues of the failure to provide education to children from undocumented families in Malaysia is worth reading.
It highlights all the issues and problems for the different undocumented communities including refugees and asylum-seekers, migrants and stateless persons in Malaysia.
We would be appalled if the same standard we apply to these children was applied to our children when overseas.
When many of us travel to study abroad, we are readily accepted into the education system of many other nations.
But we do not offer the same to those who come to our nation.
We have Malaysians and the government actively fighting for Palestinian children 7,600 kilometres away, but not fighting for children in our own county. It is long overdue that we fix the problems in our own backyard.
Poverty is a lifetime trap that is very difficult to come out of, and has devastating impacts on children and families.
We all know that education is one vehicle that creates opportunities for children and families to come out of this trap.
Denying these children education is effectively imprisoning them and subsequent generations in poverty.
These children are not numbers or statistics, but real lives that have been damaged by our behaviour and response.
Note that while we have spoken about education, the same right should also apply to health access for all children.
We appeal to the MOE to enforce our national policy and aspiration to provide quality education for all children in Malaysia.
Any nation that does not provide food, shelter, education, and health to all children as a basic right, regardless of their documented status, is a failed nation.
Signatories
- Dr Amar-Singh HSS, Consultant Paediatrician
- San Yuen Wah, Harapan OKU Law Reform Group
- Anit Kaur Randhawa, Harapan OKU Law Reform Group
- Dr Venugopal Balchand, President, Medico Legal Society Malaysia
- Prof Noor Aziah Mohd Awal, Children’s Commissioner
- Dr Tharani Loganathan, Public Health Medicine Specialist, University of Malaya
- Ahmad Daniel Sharani, Deputy President, OKU Sentral
- Alvin Teoh, Parent Disability Advocate
- Angeline Yap Hui Chin
- Azira Aziz
- Bill Jugah, Independent Council of Natives (ICON) Sarawak
- Khatijah Sulaiman, President, Malaysian Council for Rehabilitation
- Bishop Danald Jute, Anglican Church
- Diana Carol
- Dr Chong Vee Yee
- Dr Irene Cheah, Consultant Paediatrician
- Dr Lai Wan Teng
- Dr Lim Tien Hong, PILAD Chairperson
- Dr Ruziah Ghazali, PKOKM (Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Orang Kerdil Malaysia)
- Archbishop Dr Simon Poh, Catholic Church
- Dr Tan Liok Ee, President, BOLD for Special Needs
- Dr Teo Sue Ann
- Dr Tiun Ling Ta
- Dr Wong Woan Yiing, President, NECIC
- Dr Zaireeni Azmi
- Dr Chin Saw Sian
- Dr Linda Lumayag
- Dr Ong Eng-Joe, Consultant Pediatric Hemato-Oncologist, Kuching
- Faith Jap
- Goh Siu Lin, Family and Child Rights lawyer
- Hanizan Hussin, National Down Syndrome Society of Malaysia
- Helen LM Chin, Advocate and Solicitor
- Jeannie Low
- Karen Shepherd
- Kasthuri Krishnan, Family and Child Rights Lawyer
- Kaveinthran Palanthran, Independent Digital Accessibility Advocate
- Kuan Aw, Harapan OKU
- Mazidah Musa
- Melanianne Yeoh Yin
- Melissa Akhir, Kemban Kolektif
- Muhamad Nadhir Abdul Nasir, Deputy Chair, Society of the Blind in Malaysia (SBM), Johor Branch
- Assoc Prof Naziaty Mohd Yaacob, University of Malaya
- Ng Kui Choo
- Ng Lai Thin, NECIC
- Ong Puay Hoon
- Peter John Jaban, Global Human Rights Federation
- Raymond Tai, PT Foundation
- Roland Edward, Be My Protector
- Salina Hussein
- Shariza Kamaruddin
- Siti Aishah Hassan Hasri
- Siti Waringin Ion
- Syed Azmi
- ANAK, Sabah
- Asia Community Service
- Boleh Space
- Child Protection Subcommittee, Malaysian Paediatric Association
- Childline Foundation
- Community Transformation Initiative Bhd (CTI)
- CRIB Foundation
- Family Frontiers
- Federation of Reproductive Health Associations Malaysia (FRHAM)
- Global Shepherds Bhd
- Kumpulan Wanita Orang Ulu National Association (KWOUNA)
- Lawyers Kamek for Change (LK4C)
- Majlis Kebajikan Kanak-Kanak Malaysia (MKKM)
- Malaysia High Functioning Autism Association
- Malaysian CARE
- Malaysian Paediatric Association
- Malaysian Sign Language and Deaf Studies Association (MyBIM)
- Mental Health Association of Sarawak
- MTUC Sarawak
- National Early Childhood Intervention Council (NECIC)
- New Horizons Society
- NGOhub
- Orang Ulu National Association (OUNA)
- Persatuan CHILD Sabah
- Persatuan Kanak-Kanak Istimewa Kajang, Selangor
- Persatuan Pemangkin Daya Masyarakat (ROSE)
- Persatuan Pendidikan Dwira Kuching
- Persatuan Pengasuh Berdaftar Malaysia
- Persatuan RURUM KELABIT SARAWAK
- Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor
- Pertubuhan Kebajikan Vivekananda Rembau
- Pertubuhan Rumah Kebajikan Kanak-Kanak Home of Peace
- Protect and Save the Children
- PUAKPayong
- Purplelily Social Association Kuching
- Reproductive Cadre on Sexuality Education and Queries
- Reproductive Health Association Kelantan (ReHAK)
- Sabah Women’s Action-Resorce Group SAWO
- Sarawak Bank Employees Union
- Sarawak OKU Skills Development Association (SOSDA)
- Sarawak Women for Women’s Society
- Soroptimist International Club of Petaling Jaya (SIPJ)
- SPICES (Support for Parents, Infants and Children Through Early Services)
- SPOT Community Project
- Terabai Kenyalang Heritage Association of Sarawak
- The Society for Urban Poor, Kuching
- Toy Libraries Msia
- Vanguards4Change
- Wings Melaka
- Women’s Centre for Change (WCC)
- World Vision Malaysia
- Yayasan Chow Kit
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Ova.