Lawyer Siti Kasim, who often speaks up for Orang Asli causes, noted that the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia had recommended the building of such “mini schools” following a series of inquiries it held in Orang Asli settlements about two years ago.
Speaking to FMT, Siti said this would be one of the best means of reducing dropout rates. “The government has the machinery to do this,” she said. “If NGOs can do it, why not the government?”
Suhakam found from its study that Orang Asli parents generally prefer to have their young children schooled close to their homes for their safety.
Siti was commenting on concerns raised by Raina Anjang, the headman of Kampung Penghulu 5, an Orang Asli settlement in the Gua Musang district.
Raina said in a recent press interview that 100 of the village’s children, aged seven to 12, had quit school in the last three years.
The school closest to the village is SK Pasir Linggi, located some 100km away. It has a hostel, but Raina said parents did not want their children to stay there as they were too young and not ready to take care of themselves.
Transport contractors hired by the Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) shuttle pupils to and from the school, but the villagers have generally snubbed it. This may be because they see no sense in having their children spend three or four hours travelling back and forth, according to Colin Nicholas, a coordinator for an NGO called the Centre for Orang Asli Concerns.
Nicholas said he based his speculation on reasons given by villagers in other Orang Asli settlements.
He added that the service could be irregular due to the poor maintenance of vehicles or lack of commitment among operators.
“But this is just a manifestation of a bigger issue facing Orang Asli education,” he told FMT.
“It all boils down to the trust parents have, or rather do not have, in the authorities’ ability to deliver an education that they can consider worthwhile, beneficial and sensitive to their needs and aspirations.
“The current schooling system and curriculum is a venue for deculturalisation of the Orang Asli and their assimilation into Malay society,” he said.
He also spoke of teachers who resent being assigned to remote areas and vent their frustrations on the Orang Asli children.
“And teachers are poorly trained or not trained at all in the culture of the Orang Asli,” he added.
Siti said she had heard complaints about teachers in Orang Asli schools scolding or teasing their pupils over their difficulty in following their lessons, primarily because they could not understand Bahasa Malaysia.
“This is the kind of thing that really demotivates them,” she said. “Some of them decide to stop going to school because they feel they don’t need the scolding and name calling.”
However, she said she also knew of good and dedicated teachers and pointed to those teaching in Pos Musuh in Perak as an example.
She also said some villagers had become fearful of sending their children to school following a tragedy that saw seven Orang Asli children go missing from their boarding school in Pos Tohoi in 2015. They were later found dead.
Siti also commented on the rejection of the vehicle service for the children of Raina’s village.
“I suspect it’s probably the same problem that the other Orang Asli areas experience,” she said. “Usually Jakoa will hire private vehicles. Sometimes the vehicles turn up, sometimes they don’t. If Jakoa does not pay the operators, they won’t pick the children up.
“But I have seen pictures of these children stacked like cattle on top of four-wheel drives. They are stuffed into these vehicles as well, and if the vehicles just hit a bit of stone, imagine how they can be injured.”