Activist Prioritise Schools For Stateless Children Over Red Tape

---

Activist Khairul Atim fears that he may see the end of years of hard work if he and his fellow activists are unable to overcome bureaucratic red tape to save their community-run school.
Several parties have recently claimed on social media that the school, Iskul Sama Dilaut Omadal in Semporna, Sabah, was built on Omadal Island without permission.
This has led to founders running from pillar to post to find a way to continue operations.
Khairul, 23, played a huge part in starting the school and is very much a member of the community.
The story behind Iskul is an inspiring one. Khairul, who lives in Omadal Island with his family, is a citizen of this country and studied in a national school.
Khairul AtimHe was only 14 when he took it upon himself to teach stateless children on the island.
“I was always interested in becoming a teacher. I had free time on Saturdays and Sundays. So, I decided to use it to teach my friends," Khairul told Malaysiakini during an online interview.
Most of his students were either close to his age or younger. This helped him reach out to them more easily and his fluency in Bajau Laut fluently also helped.
"We could not apply to the Education Ministry initially because we could not fulfil the criteria. We have ‘cikgu kecil’ (little teacher) like Khairul teaching them because we could not get a full-time teacher.
"We did not have much funds and so we did not qualify as a private school,” said Iskul’s other co-founder Chuah Ee Chia, who added that the school would not have been able to sustain itself for eight years without the local community’s support.
To date, Iskul has been operating as an NGO and it has already sent an application to the Education Ministry to establish a private education institution under the alternative education centre category, otherwise known as Pusat Bimbingan Alternatif (PBA).
However, due to the accusations, Iskul was subject to questions about its permit to operate on the island.
Building a proper school
Khairul recalled that once word got out that a young teacher or Mastal Arikik (in the local Bajau Laut dialect) was teaching the stateless children, other parents would send their children to him.
He said that the “school” was initially just on an open walkway.
“When it got too hot, we had to move elsewhere,” Khairul recalled.
He is the one who persuaded Chuah to build a school so that they did not have to deal with the elements.
Iskul Sama Dilaut Omadal teamThe beauty of this school is how Malaysians came together to help underprivileged children and build young leaders of the future.
It was built with the permission of the local authorities and the actual work was done by local skilled builders on the island.
The food was prepared by those within the community itself from funding that the organisation receives from generous benefactors.
Khairul’s efforts even led to a nomination for the “Young Change Makers 2015” award by Unicef. He also attended teaching camps to improve his teaching methods.
Upon finishing his SPM, Khairul moved into the role of field coordinator in training. His new role took up much of his time and teacher Jefry Musa was hired in 2019.
Jefry handles advanced classes for stateless children aged between 10 to 14, while three of Khairul's former students who are now Mastal Arikik, teach the younger students.
Saving the school
Khairul said he was proud of his former students.
“I am proud of them. I did not expect this to happen because when I was teaching them, they would communicate in their mother tongue which was Bahasa Bajau.
“They picked up Bahasa Malaysia slowly. It took about five years for me to notice their potential,” Khairul said with pride.
He plans to continue his studies soon, but for now, saving the school is paramount.
Khairul Atim buys groceries for students’ meals once every two weeksWhile most of us take going to school for granted, for stateless children in rural areas, it is something that is not prioritised.
“I feel that anyone, starting from the age of six, should be given access to education. I believe it is the road that will lead them to a better life,” said Khairul, who could not stress enough how extremely important education is, especially the basics such as reading, writing and arithmetic.
He points out that lack of education makes a person vulnerable to those who take advantage of them.
“The people here sometimes find it hard to even make a police report when a crime has been committed because they don’t know how to speak the language,” Khairul said, referring to the fact that most of the stateless people only know the local dialect.
This has evolved greatly with technology, and since the pandemic lockdowns, online learning has been the norm.
“During the lockdown, we gave the children work to do at home. We even sent food supplies to their families,” he explained.
Helping the community
Chuah said that Iskul evolved from being just a school to stateless children because they were part of the community and saw what they needed first-hand.
Khairul Atim (on the sofa in the middle) next to Chuah Ee Chia explaining about Iskul during their visit to the District Officer in July 2023“At first, we thought they just needed an education. Later we saw that they had no access to healthcare. So, if someone got a wound or a cut, they had no place to go,” said Chuah.
They slowly stepped into the role, communicating with doctors to help with simple first aid.
As for Iskul’s current status, Khairul said the Education Ministry is trying to help but the local authorities from whom they need permission are slow to sign off.
Iskul has the funding to carry out various activities to benefit the children but without the permit, they cannot proceed.
“The prerequisite is getting a permit from the Education Ministry to continue teaching the children. The problem now is we need letters from the village head and the village community management council (Majlis Pengurusan Komuniti Kampung -MPKK) to get the permit from the ministry.
“We have a letter from the council, but they want a new one because it is a new application. Once they have the relevant letter, the Education Ministry can process the application," said Khairul.
At the time of the interview, they were told that MPKK was waiting for the state government’s instruction.
If Iskul is forced to cease operations, Khairul said things would go back to the way it was before and the stateless children would have no access to education.
“We had a meeting with the Education Ministry and other government agencies. The ministry official asked if Iskul was competing with the government school on the island.
“I said no, it was for marginalised children only who have no other access to basic education,” said Khairul, adding that the officials themselves should be aware of the importance of education. - Mkini

---