A survey conducted by the Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) found that there is a gap between government education initiatives and the information received by the poor.

In a statement today, Ideas said an overwhelming 90 percent of the bottom 40 percent population have never heard about the Malaysian Education Blueprint (MEB).

"This is indicative of the fact that this segment of the population was not included in the MEB consultations and that parents in the bottom 40 percent remain largely uninformed about initiatives that should help them move out from poverty.

"Even more worrying, we also found that poor parents are not very interested to interact with schools. Sixty-seven percent feels it is sufficient for them to trust teachers and headmasters."

Ideas has also released a new policy briefing paper outlining the main findings of its nationwide education survey of the bottom 40 percent.

The 2013 survey covered over 1,200 individuals from low-income households from across the country. The average monthly income of the households surveyed was RM 919 and, on average each household had between two to three children.

Ideas said it conducted the survey to ensure the poor too have a voice in the school system as it felt that the bottom 40 percent were not sufficiently engaged when the MEB was drafted.

Apart from the information gap, the Ideas survey also highlighted four other main issues faced by the poor with regard to education.

1. Government education aid not reaching the needy

There is a surprisingly low level of awareness and receipt of education aids among the poor, despite the fact that these aids were supposed to be targeted at them.

The survey found that only 62 percent of poor parents are aware of the Poor Students' Trust Fund (Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pelajar Miskin). Even worse, only 15 percent of poor students are actually benefitting from the fund. Clearly there is an urgent need to scrutinise the delivery mechanisms.

2. Main reason for poor children dropping out is lack of interest in learning

Ideas said that 23 percent of respondents cited that their children dropped out because they cannot afford school related fees and expenses.

These are compounded by other factors not being in favour of dropouts such as lower levels of parental involvement with the child’s homework and extra reading, lower levels of parental engagement with schools and teachers, as well as on average lower levels of expenditure on the child’s education.

3. Education related expenses continue to be a burden

Expenditure such as school uniforms and PIBG fees, shoes, exercise books, and tuition or additional classes fees are problematic for the poor.

Ideas said the majority of poor parents are already spending 16 percent of their monthly household income to support their children's education, and this is a relatively high proportion.

Sixty percent of them feel that their children need additional tuition but 40 percent said they cannot afford it, it added.

4. Accessibility and distance to schools limit parents’ ability to choose better schools.

According to the survey, 97 percent of poor parents said their child’s current school was the one they preferred, but when probed further, 64 percent said that it was the only school that was accessible from their homes, which means they don’t have a choice but to attend that school only.

Ideas also found that many still struggle with accessibility, with 32 percent of poor parents in Kedah and 23 percent in Klang Valley saying schools are not easily accessible.

The survey also found that poor parents generally see private schools as being better compared to government schools with 74 percent of poor parents saying that they would, despite accessibility issues, opt for private schools if the fees were paid for by the government.