Foreign Ministry to form policy on Rohingya children education

The Foreign Ministry, with the cooperation of NGOs and activists, is coming up with a comprehensive status paper to ensure that Rohingya refugee children in Malaysia could get a proper education.

Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said Rohingya children from Alternative Learning Centres (ALCs), whether run by their own community or NGOs, should have proper venues and teachers with certification.

“ALCs need to have permanency in terms of school venue… if you rent, it is up to the landlord… whether they like you or not, they will ask you to leave,” he told a press conference after visiting Rabbaniyah Educare, a school for Rohingya children in Kuala Lumpur today.

The comprehensive status paper will also identify the need for proper certification of ALCs and training for teachers, who are part-timers and volunteers, besides looking at the resources and equipment at schools which are obviously lacking.

The minister said the other challenge faced by Rohingya children in getting proper education is that their parents do not see the importance of education because they themselves were uneducated.

Apart from that, the ALCs are facing inadequate space for the Rohingya children to undergo education as some of them are conducting two classes in a single classroom.

He said there is also a need to look into the transportation of Rohingya children who live 15-30 minutes away from the ALCs.

Saifuddin said there are 48 ALCs in Malaysia, set up by NGOs, that could support the education of only 30 percent of the refugee children. According to UNHCR, Malaysia hosts up to 200,000 Rohingya refugees.

- Bernama

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