Bukit Assek rep slams need for passport to enroll stateless children in schools

Irene Chang

SIBU (Feb 4): Requiring stateless children adopted by Malaysian parents to produce their passports in order to enrol in schools is a ‘regressive step’ on the part of the government, said Bukit Assek assemblywoman Irene Chang.

Reacting to news reports on the new policy, she said it would lead to many undocumented children in the country to be again deprived of education after the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration strove to ensure no child was left behind.

“In fact, I have already received a few calls from concerned guardians and adoptive parents in Sarawak concerning the latest policy.

“A few who thought that their children had already been ‘successfully enrolled’ and who have been participating in ‘online studies’ in government schools since the reopening of the school year have now been informed by the schools that their ‘enrolment’ could not be approved after all.

“This would definitely have a detrimental effect, both physically and psychologically on the children concerned,” she said in a statement today.

Chang said the government should continue with the PH administration’s ‘Zero rejection policy’ to ensure all children have access to education.

Through the PH policy, she said children including undocumented children and those with special needs, were not left out.

“In 2019, it was reported that this policy under the Pakatan Harapan government had enabled at least 2,635 undocumented children in Malaysia to enrol in public schools in that year,” she said.

Chang said under such policy, the applicants of the undocumented child concerned only had to produce any one of the required documents to be accepted into the government schools namely, a birth certificate, a guardianship order or an Adoption Certificate.

They also had to show a connection with a Malaysian and that efforts have been made to apply for citizenship under Article 15A of the Federal Constitution she added.

Chang also urged Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah to officially write to the Ministry of Education to appeal against the latest policy.

Contacted by The Borneo Post yesterday, Fatimah had expressed concern over the new policy as it would affect many stateless children in Sarawak.

She appealed to the Education Ministry to understand the predicament faced by the children, revealing that the Sarawak Special Committee on Citizenship had received 723 applications from stateless individuals since 2019.

The Malay Mail had reported on Feb 2 that stateless children adopted by Malaysian parents could not enroll in government schools unless they produce their passports under a new policy that started this year.

The post Bukit Assek rep slams need for passport to enroll stateless children in schools appeared first on Borneo Post Online.

from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3rp4d19
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