Hope for marginalised children in Sabah

1. in partnership

3. Harvest Centre Borneo in
collaboration with Dignity for
Children Foundation (Harvest
Training Centre), is a private
and an affinity network of
foundations, societies, NGOs and
learning centres for children
alternative education.

4. The purpose of Harvest Centre
Borneo is to help advance the
development and education
agendas by improving strategic
analyses and thinking, informing
and assisting their funding and
providing opportunities for
collective learning and action.

5. Harvest Centre Borneo’s focus on
the Community Alternative Learning
Centres for out-of-school children:
namely, children of Filipino
migrant and undocumented
migrants, children of Indonesian
migrants and undocumented
children of mix Sabahan
parentage in Sabah.

6. The Malaysian Government does
not have a policy or guidelines for
the provision of education for non-
Malaysian citizens.
However, the government has
welcomed initiatives by the private
sector, NGOs, civil societies and
individuals in providing these children
with an education.

7. A report submitted to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
in 2009, Malaysia had reiterated:
In full compliance with its treaty obligation
under the CRC (Convention on the Rights of the
Child), all children in Malaysia are not denied
access to education.
The Government also constantly engages with
international organisations such as UNICEF and
UNHCR, and civil societies (Harvest Centre Borneo –
my emphasis), to ensure that children of illegal
immigrants attend informal classes to be
conducted by NGOs, such as, through community-
based schooling.
(Item 38 of Page 8 of NATIONAL REPORT SUBMITTED IN ACCORDANCE
WITH PARAGRAPH 15 (A) OF THE ANNEX TO HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
RESOLUTION 5/1 - Malaysia

8. In Malaysia, education and living
skills opportunities for street children,
refugees, stateless children,
undocumented children, immigrants
and children living in plantations are
available in a vastly diverse and
sporadic learning centres provided by
individuals, community, NGOs and
faith-based groups.

9. Universal Declaration of Human Rights*
Article 26 states that ‘everyone has the
right to education’. Education is increasingly
viewed as the “4th pillar” or “central pillar”
of humanitarian response, together with the
pillars of nourishment, shelter and health
services.
Access to education is a basic human right
and is linked to poverty reduction,
economic growth and better lives for
children, families, and communities.
(adopted 10 December 1948 UNGA Res 217 A(III) (UDHR)

10. The Sabah Immigrant Story
The influx of Filipino refugees many whom are
Muslims to Sabah between 1972 and 1984 was
a result of the civil war in the Mindanao region
in the southern part of Philippines since the late
60s.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on
Immigrants in Sabah concluded that the armed
conflict and economic factors that assures of
better jobs and improved quality of life - were
the main motives for migration to Sabah by the
Southern Filipino Community.

12. Harvest Centre Borneo’s mission and
vision is to advocate and support the rights of
all children to gain access and complete
basic education in Sabah.
Most of the parents of these undocumented
children are marginalised, from broken
families as many of their parents are holding
on to labour intensive jobs that have no
fixed income and are constantly subjected
to immigration control (sometimes on a daily
basis) in Sabah.

13. 1.Education
The right to education is enshrined
in Article 28 of the CRC.
According to States Parties’
obligations under the CRC, they
must ensure education is
available and accessible to
every child on the basis of equal
opportunity.

14. Education is an area where the discrepancy between
law and practice is very evident. Despite widespread
acceptance of the right of undocumented children to
attend ALC’s, their access in practice varies
greatly especially at the urban area of Sabah.
Harvest Centre Borneo notes that the high levels of
stress, lack of money for academic enrichment
activities and pressures to work lead many children to
drop out of ALCs in Sabah.
Further, immigration control and labour policies which
leaves the undocumented workers’ employment rights
unprotected and often lead to parents working in insecure
and poor conditions with low pay and long working hours
resulting in high levels of poverty and stress.

15. The role of Harvest Centre Borneo is also
aimed at assisting the Government of Malaysia,
the State Government of Sabah, Ministry of
Education, Ministry of Welfare, UNICEF,
UNCHR, Embassies and other stakeholders.
Harvest Centre Borneo identifies how best
to aid and support these initiatives and to
bridge the current gaps in policies,
participation and service delivery of
education among undocumented children in
Sabah.

16. Harvest Centre Borneo also pursues to
compile data and information on the ALCs
which can be used as evidence for policy,
advocacy and support relevant to
interventions by the Government to develop an
“Alternative Education Policy”.
And identify areas and actions of strategic
importance that can contribute and support
government and non-governmental agencies in
order to remove barriers to the fulfillment of
rights to education for all children in
Malaysia.

17. What is Alternative Education Programme?
Alternative Education Programmes (AEP) or parallel
programmes, refers to learning programmes that are NOT
considered formal education. It provides methods of
delivery to ‘fill the gap’ of education for children who are not
enrolled in the formal national system.
It is offered outside the auspices of the formal government
education system and include programmes that are not
managed by the government but rather implemented by
individuals, agencies and NGOs.
Alternative Education Programmes are considered
alternative because they take place in a venue other than a
formal school or may seek to ensure access for sections of the
community who may be marginalised, either geographically or
for reasons of nationality, gender, religion, ethnicity or culture.

18. The pedagogy is generally conservative and the
schools may have a limited range of subjects
depending on the skills and knowledge of the
available teachers.
Harvest Centre Borneo concurs with UNHCR and
Dignity Foundation for Children in encouraging
CLCs to follow the Malaysian curriculum to make
the case stronger for the Malaysian Government to
unconditionally open the doors of public schools to
undocumented children.
The second reason behind this is to make it easier for
children to integrate into Malaysian education, if and
when the Malaysian Government changes its policies.

19. Our Teachers
Most of our teachers have never worked with children prior to their arrival in Sabah.
Many become teachers for several reasons: financial considerations, their academic
backgrounds, their desire to be close to their own children who study at these
centres and to help other kids from their own communities.
Teaching is a better option than working in restaurants or in construction though
some take up part time jobs after school hours or during holidays. Dedicated and
highly committed, they work long hours often for very little pay, alongside local
and expatriate volunteers guiding children through their formative years.
Often they explore unconventional methods of instruction, singing, dancing
and playing games in classrooms to motivate children and uplift the kids’ and their
own spirits.
Despite serious financial and emotional challenges and living in uncertainty for years
in Sabah, many of these teachers work hard to: educate hundreds of children,
identify depression or other issues in students, engage in fostering friendship among
pupils from different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds, handhold students
who are unable to cope academically and impress upon them and their families the
benefits of education.

20. Harvest Centre Borneo concurs with UNICEF in
acknowledging the crucial importance of and the
need for a comprehensive approach that
recognizes the rights of all children in the context of
stateless and undocumented children in Sabah.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
categorizes a comprehensive set of children’s rights
underpinned by the principle of non-
discrimination.
The rights enshrined in the CRC must be guaranteed
to all children regardless of their additional
protection needs and violations of those rights
equally prioritized.

21. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SCHOOLS IN SABAH
No Name of Learning Centre No of Students No of Teachers
1 KG. TELIPOK, KK 248 4
2 KG. LOK URAI, KK 240 3
3 KG. PULAU PONDO, KK 75 2
4 KG. KINARUT, PAPAR 335 3
5 KG. PANTAI BAHAGIA, KUDAT 133 2
6 KG. PULAU JAMPIRAS, SANDAKAN 159 2
7 KG. HIDAYAT. TAWAU 366 4
8 KG. SELAMAT, SEMPORNA 512 5
9 KG. PANGKALAN, KUNAK 142 2
10 KG. BAHAGIYA, SANDAKAN 678 5
11 EDUCATE CENTRE KG. NUMBAK, 305 6
MENGGATAL

22. HCB’s COMMUNITY ALTERNATIVE LEARNING CENTRES (CALCs)
RAINBOW OF HOPE IN KOTA KINABALU (120 Students)
HOPE LEARNING CENTRE IN PENAMPANG (360 Students)
KENINGAU VISION CENTRE IN KENINGAU (120 Students)
VISION OF HOPE CENTRE IN KENINGAU (150 Students)
JAYA LEARNING CENTRE IN KOTA KINABALU (Private School)
GRACE CENTRE IN PENAMPANG (150 Students)

23. 2. Birth Registration
Birth registration enables undocumented children to
obtain a birth certificate – a document recording the
registration and officially recognizing the child’s legal
identity.
Birth registration can contribute to the protection of
undocumented children from human rights violations
stemming from doubts about their age
Harvest Centre Borneo’s interpretation is that
undocumented children whose births are not
registered may be more vulnerable to human
trafficking and other forms of abuse and
exploitation that includes child marriage.

24. 3. Health Care
The right of the child to the reasonable
standard of health is guaranteed in
Article 24 of the CRC.
The CRC is explicit that this includes the
right to health care facilities and services.
However, access to health care services
and public health care systems varies
widely and are often inaccessible to
undocumented children in Sabah.

25. Undocumented children separation from
parents and adapting to parental absence
can also significantly impact children’s mental
health and psycho-social development.
In some cases, the parental deportation can
lead to children losing contact with their
parents altogether with potentially severe
implications for their mental health and well-
being even though in most cases the
community that the children lives in rallies
behind them by providing and taking care of
these children needs during the parent’s
absence.

26. Academic Advisory Board
The role of the Academic Advisory Board (AAB) is to provide advice,
counsel and critical-friendship to the HCB’s Executive Management Board.
This advice includes comments on:
The structure, design and impact of the curriculum and associated
materials to ensure that they contribute to the highest possible
developments in academic, personal and holistic learning in CALCs.
Maintaining the quality and integrity of the CALC’s through reviewing and
advising on:
– the self-review and accreditation protocol
– CALC Professional Development strategy
– the implementation support provided to affiliated learning centres.
Changes taking place within the wider educational arena that may have
impact on the programs made available by Harvest Centre Borneo.

27. EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT BOARD
Muhanah Binti Ingkab (Project Director –
Private CALCs)
* Steven Lee (Project Director – Administration)
* Balaji (Project Director – Academics)
Dr.Joshua Khiew (Project Director – Faith
Based CALC’s)
Dharma Lingam (Project Director)

28. “Education is more than promoting
the ability to write and read;
it is also about understanding the
complexity of life,
the complexity of growing up and to
be creative…”
HBC is committed to assisting
underprivileged, marginalised and
displaced stateless children to meet the
educational needs in the broadest sense
within the community,

29. THANK
YOU