According to statistics from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there 17,400 children below the age of 18, out of which 10,000 are of school-going age.
The majority are from Burma comprising Chins, Rohingyas, Burmese Muslims, Kachins and other ethnic minorities.
There are also Sri Lankan, Somalians, Iraqis and Afghans who have found refuge in Malaysia.
Based on these figures, there are over 17,000 children in Malaysia without access to basic education.
This also stems from the fact that Malaysian immigration laws do not recognise refugees, and are often categorised as illegal migrants. As it is, children without proper documentation cannot go to regular schools.
These refugees have no access to legal employment and are forced find work in hazardous conditions with either extremely low wages or none at all.
The lucky ones have been able to attend either education projects run by UNHCR and NGO partners, or community-based education classes that are organised by the refugee communities themselves.
It is estimated that only a third of refugee children of school-going age have access to any kind of education.
“According to the United Nation Convention of the Rights of the Child, no child, irrespective of creed, caste and colour, should be discriminated against,” said United Nation Children’s Fund (Unicef) Malaysia representative, Youssouf Omar (above).
Malaysia had ratified the convention in 1995 as part of its commitment to protect and respect the rights of a child.
Nevertheless, a report by UNHCR on the general population of refugee and stateless children in Malaysia reveals that they do not have any access to formal education.
External relations officer of UNHCR, Yante Ismail, said that refugee children living in exile are often denied normal childhood.
“Security fears make everyday activities, like playing outdoors, difficult,” she said.
Education system
According to Yante, UNHCR partners NGOs to run structured, education projects for refugee children.
She said that eight such projects are located in Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Selangor with participating students being typically aged between 5 and 16.
NGOs also, she said, provide training for refugee teachers to improve their skills. These teachers utilise Malaysian school textbooks to teach four main subjects – English, Maths, Science and Bahasa Melayu.
“Aside from the structured education projects run by NGOs that partner UNHCR, the refugees themselves run community-based schools on their own to meet the needs of their communities,” she said.
She said that these schools are located wherever there are refugee communities with a large number of children of school-going age.
At least 65 such schools are located in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor with the total enrolment figure reaching over 3,300.
The scope and reach of these classes are largely restricted by the lack of resources, including qualified teachers.
Based on Malaysiakini’s visits to these schools, it is common for classes to be held in rented flats or shop houses, where rooms are converted into classrooms, largely overcrowded and lacking in basic facilities.
Funding for teachers salaries, transportation for children, payment of utilities and rental of school premises and meals for children in schools are also lacking.
There is an urgent need for stationery, teaching-related equipment, skill-training for teachers and volunteers to help with teaching and administration.
Youssouf agreed that while efforts have been made, more can be done. He said that it should be the collective responsibility of the government, NGOs and Malaysians to improve the lot of refugee children.
Government’s stand needs review
Secretary-general of the Education Ministry, Zulkurnain Awang, said that the government does not have the resources to provide for the education of refugee children.
Nevertheless, he welcomes NGOs efforts to provide for these children.
Hartini Zainuddin (below), the general manager of Nur Salam which provides schooling for these refugee children, said the government needs to relook its education policies related to this issue.
“If we ask them, they will say that we have so many Malaysian children and we do not have the resources to provide for these refugee children whose parents do not contribute to Malaysia,” she said.
Hartini claimed that when Nur Salam first started, they had 66 cases of abused children without proper documents.
“And it turned out except for two, all were Malaysians.The authorities could have done more to help these children who were walking around the streets without papers,” she said.
Youssouf, too, feels that more can be done by the Malaysia government.
“In a country of 27 million inhabitants, I do not think that it is a big problem to cater for the education of 17,000 children. It could be done if there is willingness from the civil society,” he said.
He added that dialogues among the stakeholders was vital to gain a better understanding and appreciation of the refugees and their problems.
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