MaximsNewsNetwork: MALAYSIA EDUCATION & CHILD RIGHTS UNICEF

MaximsNewsNetwork: 16 November 2009 - UNICEF: A UNICEF supported program aims to provide basic education for parents from the Penan indigenous group so that they will support their own children's schooling. The right to education is enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the child, which is 20 years old this year.

Meriam Anyie was born deep in the rainforest of Malaysian Borneo. For most of her life, she and her family drifted through the jungle, never living in a permanent home. She is Penan, one of a nomadic indigenous people who have hunted and gathered in the remote interior of Borneo since long before written history could record it.

Meriam is the first generation of her family to settle down. She and her husband are raising four children in Long Luteng, a small village situated on rolling hills of ancient forest, hours from the nearest city by boat or four-wheel drive. And, for the first time in her life, Meriam is going to school.

This adult literacy program, called KEDAP in Malay, is a pilot project of the Malaysian ministry of education to reach remote indigenous and Orang Asli, or original people, of Malaysia.

Its an effort that not only provides a basic education for the parents, but also helps them understand the value of schooling for their children.

SOUNDBITE (Bahasa Malay) Meriam Anyie, Penan Mother:
I never went to school all my early life. My mother and father, and I, we were born and lived in the jungle. There were no schools in the jungle! So I never went to school. Now I know ABC and I can read, write and count to 10, to 20. Now I can help my children a little bit with their school work.

The adult literacy class is in such high demand in Long Luteng that many parents are on a waiting list. Its success comes on the heels of a long-running program, supported by UNICEF, to boost enrolment rates and achievement in rural areas, particularly among Orang Asli children in Peninsular Malaysia and indigenous children in distant areas of Sabah and Sarawak.

Long Luteng primary school faces challenges unlike schools in many more accessible areas. Some students must travel hours on foot to attend class, and they often face pressure from parents to work, to help the familys income.

SOUNDBITE (English) Edward Nullie ak Anggun, Principal, Long Luteng Primary School:
I tell them you can only change through education, because with a good education you can get a better job; with a better job, then you can have a better life.
Teachers try to connect with children using fun and interactive teaching techniques. Classes involve educational games and other materials designed to stimulate and engage students, and encourage them to stay in school.
SOUNDBITE (Bahasa Malay) Meriam Anyie, Penan Mother:
My hope is for my children to have ambition in their hearts. I want them to be successful. Maybe my daughter can be a nurse, my son Andi can be a teacher. I will be very happy.
And as more parents like Meriam learn the importance of education, more children will be able to study and increase their potential.

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Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Malasia
• education
• Convention Rights Child
• UNICEF
• Borneo
• literacy
• KEDAP
• indigenous
• MaximsNews Network
• Orang Asli
• Sabah
• Sarawak