Indigenous children in the Malaysian Education System
The Indigenous Peoples of Malaysia were estimated to account for around 13.8% of the 31,660,700 million national population. They are collectively known as Orang Asli. The Orang Asli are the Indigenous Peoples of Peninsular Malaysia.
Orang Asli is a collective terminology that means original or first peoples in the Malaysian language. They comprise of ethnic groups which is less than 150,000 who are widely regarded as peninsular Malaysia’s original inhabitants. The Orang Asli are generally divided into three distinct groups: the Negrito, Senoi and Proto-Malay. The Temoq, Senoi and Negrito speak languages known as Aslian, which belong to the Mon-Khmer family, while the ancestors of the Proto-Malay spoke languages that belonged to the Austronesian family of languages. The Proto-Malay group are similar in appearance to Malays, but of diverse origin. They live along the Strait of Malacca and in southern Johor. Some have adopted Islam and are being absorbed into the Malay community.
Most of the Orang Asli live in or close to forests. They may be involved in hill rice cultivation or traditional hunting and gathering activities. Orang Seletar and Mah Meri on the other hand live near the coast and fish. Others, such as the Jakun, are involved in agriculture. A few Negritos continue a semi-nomadic lifestyle.
About 70 per cent practise traditional animist religions, about 10 per cent are Christian and 15–20 per cent Muslim, though the percentage of Orang Asli who are Muslim has been steadily increasing in more recent years, especially among the Proto-Malay.
Orang Asli or the Indigenous people of Malaysia are the oldest inhabitants of Peninsular Malaysia. However, they comprise the minority amongst the total Malaysian population. Their social and economic position makes them some of the disadvantaged minorities in the nation with the majority living under the poverty line.
A study by Fatan Hamimah in 2008 indicates that approximately 50% of Orang Asli students do not attend secondary school. This shows that half of the Orang Asli children drop out of school right after primary school education is completed. The study also found that only 30% of Orang Asli children finish their secondary school education. This is less than half of the national average. A study done by Zainal Abidin in the same year found that there are higher chances of Orang Asli children dropping out of secondary school than in primary school.
Various studies show that the main hindrance for Orang Asli children to thrive and have interest in education is because of their parents' attitude towards them. The mainstream education is rejected by Orang Asli parents. As a method of overcoming this, is to educate the teachers of Orang Asli culture and languages. Although efforts in helping Orang Asli children transition into mainstream education was put into place it turns out a major failure. This is because the government back in 1995 failed to educate the educators on Orang Asli languages and culture.
However, in a more important note, a recent research by Wan Afizi found that the accessibility for Orang Asli children to attend school is the main factor halting them from pursuing an education.
In order to improve this it is crucial that Orang Asli is given access to their basic needs which is a basic human right. Orang Asli does not have access to water supply nor electricity. In addition to that, the road links to the nearest school do not exist. The only way for them to get to school is to cross the river. However, using longboats is incredibly dangerous. Wet season in Malaysia which takes place from November to February causes heavy turbulence in the rivers and this has sacrificed multiple school children yearly.
Various organizations have come forward to help Orang Asli children to break the education barrier, nothing can be changed without relevant steps implemented by the government.
References
https://www.iwgia.org/en/malaysia/3605-iw-2020-malaysia.html
https://minorityrights.org/minorities/orang-asli/
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/47255
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/491271
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/education/2020/10/25/bridging-the-educational-gap
