Perak to give stateless kids a chance to go to school
GERIK: Perak will start a pilot project to help stateless children enrol in school beginning with Gerik, says state executive councillor Dr Abdul Aziz Bari.
The State Education, Technology, Science and Environment Committee chairman said the move to pick Gerik as the pilot project area was a decision made by the state government.
He said the project would be under a special committee involving several departments including education, national registration and women development.
“Many stateless children are unable to go to school here as they are not registered as Malaysian citizens.
“No one would want to be born in such a difficult situation. Education is a basic human right.
“Hopefully with the committee in place, we will get to help more stateless children in Perak,” he told a press conference at the Gerik district office.
Abdul Aziz added that the committee would work hand in hand with village heads to reach out to as many stateless children as possible.
“We don’t have a name yet for the committee, but we have been working for a few months now after a case of a stateless child who could not go to school came to our attention,” he said.
In January, a stateless seven-yearold girl from Gerik was able to enrol in SK Ganda Temenggor with the help of the state government after her case was highlighted in the media.
Abdul Aziz said there were several cases of stateless children in Perak and he hoped that with the committee in place, more of them would get a chance to go to school.
“I know there are some parties who claim that they (stateless people) are not Malaysians.
“But as the elected government, we need to solve such issues soon. Otherwise, this will escalate to other issues such as crimes.
“If the project is a success in Gerik, then it will be implemented in other districts in the state,” Abdul Aziz added.
Perak Women, Family and Community Development Committee chairman Wong May Ing, who was also present at the press conference, said there were currently more than 15,000 undocumented children in Malaysia.
“From the information that I have gathered, some stateless children did go to school but were not given certificates after completing their major examinations.
“Thus, with the committee, I hope more children will get their citizenship and receive proper education,” she said.