A Question of Access

Education Needs of Undocumented Children in Malaysia

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12349074
AutoresLinda Alfarero Lumayag (University of Malaya, autor correspondente)
Ano2016
Volume40
Fascículo2
Páginas192-210
Data de publicação2016-03-21
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAsian Studies Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1035-7823 • E-ISSN: 1467-8403
EditoraRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10357823.2016.1158238
OpenAlexW2317685973
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas10
Referências citadas24

In 2002, the Government of Malaysia amended the Education Act of 1996 (Act 550) to, in effect, limit access to free education to Malaysian citizens. This means that children of foreigners who do not have proper documentation but reside in Malaysia cannot attend government schools. Those affected are the children of foreign workers, asylum seekers and refugees. This paper attempts to outline the background to the education needs of Filipino children and map out existing initiatives by non-government organisations to mitigate the problems of illiteracy and poverty. It also attempts to describe the aspirations of these children in terms of education. The first section discusses the circumstances behind being undocumented in East Malaysia, while the second section describes existing local non-government organisation initiatives and the challenges such organisations face in providing free education to undocumented children. The findings are drawn from two fieldwork sessions, conducted in 2006–07 and 2013–14. Both research sessions used observation, semi-structured interviews and focus-group discussions (FGD) with children aged 7–17 years in Sabah, Malaysia. This study finds that children are in a desperate situation as a result of being denied an education. While there are non-formal learning centres available in their communities, these local initiatives are insufficient to provide a clear path to education in towns and rural villages

Documentation · Economic growth · Focus group · Functional illiteracy · Government (linguistics · Political science · Poverty · Public relations · Refugee · Sociology · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Health and Trauma · Migration, Refugees, and Integration