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Article contributed by Chiam Ter Ping, Officer, and photos by Johar Ridhwan bin Jaafar, IT Assistant, Bar Council


In a move to advocate for the rights of the children in Malaysia, UNICEF, the National Young Lawyers Committee (NYLC) and Human Rights Committee (HRC) jointly organised the “Education for Every Child” Forum in conjunction with UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children 2010 Special Edition Report.  The event, which took place on 20 Nov 2009, coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).  The patrons of the Forum were Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Dr Siti Hasmah binti Haji Mohamad Ali and Yang Berbahagia Datin Paduka Marina binti Mahathir. 

The Forum was titled “Education for Every Child” as the focus was the progress of, as well as the challenges in, the Malaysian education system, in relation to education opportunities for disabled children and the children of refugees, stateless and indigenous communities.  The findings of the Forum will be presented to the Government, together with the call for concrete measures to be taken to improve education for children.

Held at Hilton Kuala Lumpur, the Forum was a grand affair which drew participations from various sectors ranging from the government, NGOs, media, lawyers, children’s homes and concerned parents.  The diverse backgrounds of the participants and speakers ensured a lively debate.

The Forum kicked off with a welcome address from Ragunath Kesavan, President of the Malaysian Bar.  He urged all participants to work hand-in-hand to ensure that the rights guaranteed under CRC are made available to all children in Malaysia.

Next up on the stage was Youssouf Oomar, UNICEF Representative to Malaysia.   According to Youssouf, Malaysia has achieved much in providing better standards of living and education compared to 50 years ago, but the country cannot claim that it has achieved all that is set out in CRC.  He urged all those present to play their roles in working towards what needs to be done.

Thereafter, Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Dr Siti Hasmah was escorted up the stage to present her keynote speech.  She beseeched the audience not to leave any child behind in our efforts to implement CRC’s provisional goals of CRC, for even one is a child too many.

For the first topic, three speakers were invited to share their thoughts on access to education for Malaysian children.  Tan Sri Zulkarnain from the Ministry of Education stressed that Malaysia is committed to the Dakar goals of providing education for all.  In doing its part, the Government is providing teaching materials to orang asli settlements and special classes for disabled children, and ensuring stateless children are documented and provided with education.

Torben Venning of the Borneo Child Aid Society enlightened the participants regarding the work the society is doing to help bring education to plantation, minority and migrant children.  He explained that these children are excited about school and learning.  Through the joint effort of the society, the Ministry of Education, and the embassies of Finland and the Netherlands, there are over 105 education centres serving over 8,000 children in Sabah.

Dr Lim Boon Hock of Wings Malacca stressed the importance of early detection and intervention in the case of disabled children.  Using Wings Malacca as an example, Dr Lim showed that out of a group of 80 children, 79% have managed, with the benefit of early detection and intervention, to gain placements with other educational institutions.  He stressed that family-centred partnerships, together with the Government’s support, can make a huge difference to disabled children.

Moving on to the second topic, Dr Nur Anuar Abdul Muthalib from UNICEF started off with the truism that access to poor quality education is tantamount to no access at all.  He also cited gender discrimination as the largest obstacle to achieving education for all.  Although Malaysia has a high rate of enrolment in primary (97%) and secondary (88%) schools, there is still more work to be done to attain 100% enrolment.

Representing the Bar Council was Andrew Khoo, Co-Chairperson of the HRC.  He pointed out that Malaysia had carved out reservations to certain articles of the CRC.   For example, Malaysia's reservation to Article 7 meant that not every child born in Malaysia would obtain a birth certificate.   Malaysia's reservation to Article 28(1)(a) meant that there was no commitment to mandatory free primary education.   These are obviously barriers to providing access to education to all children in Malaysia regardless of nationality.

After the enriching presentations, the participants expressed their viewpoints during the breakout session, which livened up the proceedings considerably with the many ideas thrown around.

To end the Forum, Bar Councillor Ng Kong Peng, Chairperson of the Organising Committee, gave a closing address by presenting a few preliminary recommendations, which include a curriculum that is customised for children with disabilities.  He expressed hope that through the implementation of the recommendations, the country will be able to provide a positive environment where children can be empowered to realise their potential and soar to greater heights.