Saturday November 21, 2009
Emi is happy she can go to school
By ZALINAH NOORDIN
KUALA LUMPUR: With so many orang asli children dropping out of school, Emi Eryza feels lucky to have parents who realised the importance of education.
Emi, 16, who is a Temuan, said some of her orang asli peers had had to give up school or, worse, had never been to school.
“I feel sorry as some of them have to drop out to help the family. And some have never been to school because they live too far away.”
According to Unicef’s State of the World’s Children special anniversary report, 3% of Malaysian children aged between six and 12 do not go to school or learn to read and write.
The report was presented at the Education for Every Child forum organised by Unicef and the Bar Council here yesterday.
For the children: Faezlan and Emi reading the report with Marina and Dr Siti Hasmah at the forum in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Looking on is Unicef Representative to Malaysia Youssouf Oomar (left). Emi and fellow orang asli student Faezlan Angah, 13, presented a copy of the report to Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali and social advocate Datuk Paduka Marina Mahathir, who later launched the Malaysia Report.
SMK Sri Gombak Form One student Faezlan, who aspires to be a doctor, said parents should be made aware of the importance of education.
“Otherwise, the orang asli will remain behind while other groups come up,” said Faezlan, who related the fate of his orang asli peers when he returned to his hometown in Perak one day.
“I asked them which school they went to but they didn’t answer. My father told me that some of the parents hunted for food in the jungle and there was no one to look after the children, so the eldest stayed home to look after the siblings.”
At a press conference later, Marina said the challenges faced by children living in poverty and urban slums and by the undocumented and children of refugees should be highlighted as issues requiring urgent attention by the Government and other stakeholders, including international agencies, civil society, the media and the public.
Bar Council chairman Ragunath Kesavan said children who could not go to school were being robbed of an opportunity to achieve their full potential.
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