By Ravindran Raman Kutty
The writer is an award-winning communications practitioner and a fellow of the Institute of Public Relations Malaysia.
KUALA LUMPUR: A recent visit to a national primary school in Klang, Selangor, with my boss and a journalist friend pushed me to write this piece.
This school is special for two reasons, one it has only 138 students and second, more than a quarter of its students are in the B40 category.
We went there to present a cheque to the school for its breakfast programme and our visit ended with a long chat with the teachers and headmaster.
Chatting over some fried meehoon and instant coffee, they told us that although theirs was an urban school, many of the students were from poor families. Their parents do odd jobs to survive and some of them have as many as 12 siblings each.
There are afternoon session students who arrive at school in the morning as their parents are both working. While waiting for classes to begin, they would sit in the canteen or wander around the school. Apparently, there are students who cry in class as they have not had their breakfast.
There are students who come to school without taking a bath or grooming themselves and it seems the teachers have to get them to take a bath.
One of the teachers told us that recently, two siblings aged nine and 10 were registered at their school by the Social Welfare Department but it was the first time they were going to school.
The school had to send the older child to a Tamil school as he was quite lost in the school and could not mingle with the other children, nor catch up with his studies. But he is reportedly doing well in the Tamil school.
His younger brother was placed in Standard Two and is coping well with his studies.
When asked why the children were not enrolled in school at age seven, the teacher said their parents were too poor and that educating their children was not a priority for them.
I walked out of the school with a heavy heart. My journalist friend asked the school staff if they were using social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram to engage their ex-students who are now in a position to help them resolve some the problems faced by the school.
My boss asked if the Ministry of Education has offered to help the poor students. The headmaster replied that every month, a report is sent to the district education office on the activities of the school, “but we don’t hear much from the education office with regard to these poor children”.
I am impressed with our nation’s education and health systems as their services have reached both the urban and rural areas. But there is something missing. This primary school in Klang is not the only one that has poor students as other schools all over the country face the same situation.
I feel that the Education Ministry should meet the headmasters and teachers to devise a mechanism to identify and tackle the issue of poverty which, I think, is more dangerous than cancer.
The ministry could conduct a survey across the country to determine the issues affecting the B40 category students. This survey can shed light on exactly how many students are affected by poverty.
Once the affected schools are informed of the survey findings, they will be ready to meet the challenges posed by the students and their parents. The teachers responsible for them, particularly those in charge of student affairs, must be trained to handle the matter.
The training programme for them must cover elements such as seeking the support of sponsors for the school from the nearby community, working closely with the Social Welfare Department, establishing a social media presence to get the support of ex-pupils of the school, learning to benefit from the programmes currently made available by the Ministry of Education and engaging with the Parent-Teacher Association.
The MOE’s website www.moe.gov.my/index.php/pra-sekolah/jenis-bantuan points to the various support schemes offered by the ministry. Once the teachers are trained, they will be able to mobilise their resources to tackle this issue. Right now, these issues are left to be handled by a single teacher. If the teacher’s passion level is low, it will affect the mitigation of the issue.
The Social Welfare Department must also maintain the data of the B40 students so that the department can be supportive in addressing the needs of the poor students.
The government has a wonderful social services system in place and we don’t want these poor students to fall out of the system. Those students who fall out of this system will end up nowhere.
We have enough gangsters, Mat Rempit and Ah Longs in our midst causing a host of problems for society. We must not allow more of our youngsters to be led astray.
We should attend to every case in a careful and detailed manner to prevent them from getting involved with anti-social elements and ending up behind bars.
I think there are many schools in our country that need a holistic approach to countering the B40 issues. No child must be deprived of education in our country. And, we should not allow any child to stay away from school due to poverty.
Greek philosopher Aristotle once said: “Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.”
And Mahatma Gandhi, who led India’s non-violent independence movement against British rule, has said that “Poverty is the worst form of violence”. – Bernama
(The views expressed in this commentary are the writer’s own.)
