in partnership

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.

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.

Harvest Centre Borneo’s focus onthe Community Alternative LearningCentres for out-of-school children:namely, children of Filipinomigrant and undocumentedmigrants, children of Indonesianmigrants and undocumentedchildren of mix Sabahanparentage in Sabah.

The Malaysian Government doesnot have a policy or guidelines forthe provision of education for non-Malaysian citizens.

However, the government haswelcomed initiatives by the privatesector, NGOs, civil societies andindividuals in providing these childrenwith an education.

A report submitted to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR)in 2009, Malaysia had reiterated:

In full compliance with its treaty obligationunder the CRC (Convention on the Rights of theChild), all children in Malaysia are not deniedaccess to education.

The Government also constantly engages withinternational organisations such as UNICEF andUNHCR, and civil societies (Harvest Centre Borneo –

my emphasis), to ensure that children of illegalimmigrants attend informal classes to beconducted by NGOs, such as, through community-based schooling.

(Item 38 of Page 8 of NATIONAL REPORT SUBMITTED IN ACCORDANCEWITH PARAGRAPH 15 (A) OF THE ANNEX TO HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCILRESOLUTION 5/1 - Malaysia

In Malaysia, education and livingskills opportunities for street children,refugees, stateless children,undocumented children, immigrantsand children living in plantations areavailable in a vastly diverse andsporadic learning centres provided byindividuals, community, NGOs andfaith-based groups.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights*

Article 26 states that ‘everyone has theright to education’. Education is increasinglyviewed as the “4th pillar” or “central pillar”of humanitarian response, together with thepillars of nourishment, shelter and healthservices.

Access to education is a basic human rightand is linked to poverty reduction,economic growth and better lives forchildren, families, and communities.

(adopted 10 December 1948 UNGA Res 217 A(III) (UDHR)

The Sabah Immigrant Story

The influx of Filipino refugees many whom areMuslims to Sabah between 1972 and 1984 wasa result of the civil war in the Mindanao regionin the southern part of Philippines since the late60s.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) onImmigrants in Sabah concluded that the armedconflict and economic factors that assures ofbetter jobs and improved quality of life - werethe main motives for migration to Sabah by theSouthern Filipino Community.

Harvest Centre Borneo’s mission andvision is to advocate and support the rights ofall children to gain access and completebasic education in Sabah.

Most of the parents of these undocumentedchildren are marginalised, from brokenfamilies as many of their parents are holdingon to labour intensive jobs that have nofixed income and are constantly subjectedto immigration control (sometimes on a dailybasis) in Sabah.

1.Education

The right to education is enshrinedin Article 28 of the CRC.

According to States Parties’obligations under the CRC, theymust ensure education isavailable and accessible toevery child on the basis of equalopportunity.

Education is an area where the discrepancy betweenlaw and practice is very evident. Despite widespreadacceptance of the right of undocumented children toattend ALC’s, their access in practice variesgreatly especially at the urban area of Sabah.

Harvest Centre Borneo notes that the high levels ofstress, lack of money for academic enrichmentactivities and pressures to work lead many children todrop out of ALCs in Sabah.

Further, immigration control and labour policies whichleaves the undocumented workers’ employment rightsunprotected and often lead to parents working in insecureand poor conditions with low pay and long working hoursresulting in high levels of poverty and stress.

The role of Harvest Centre Borneo is alsoaimed at assisting the Government of Malaysia,the State Government of Sabah, Ministry ofEducation, Ministry of Welfare, UNICEF,UNCHR, Embassies and other stakeholders.

Harvest Centre Borneo identifies how bestto aid and support these initiatives and tobridge the current gaps in policies,participation and service delivery ofeducation among undocumented children inSabah.

Harvest Centre Borneo also pursues tocompile data and information on the ALCswhich can be used as evidence for policy,advocacy and support relevant tointerventions by the Government to develop an“Alternative Education Policy”.

And identify areas and actions of strategicimportance that can contribute and supportgovernment and non-governmental agencies inorder to remove barriers to the fulfillment ofrights to education for all children inMalaysia.

What is Alternative Education Programme?

Alternative Education Programmes (AEP) or parallelprogrammes, refers to learning programmes that are NOTconsidered formal education. It provides methods ofdelivery to ‘fill the gap’ of education for children who are notenrolled in the formal national system.

It is offered outside the auspices of the formal governmenteducation system and include programmes that are notmanaged by the government but rather implemented byindividuals, agencies and NGOs.

Alternative Education Programmes are consideredalternative because they take place in a venue other than aformal school or may seek to ensure access for sections of thecommunity who may be marginalised, either geographically orfor reasons of nationality, gender, religion, ethnicity or culture.

The pedagogy is generally conservative and theschools may have a limited range of subjectsdepending on the skills and knowledge of theavailable teachers.

Harvest Centre Borneo concurs with UNHCR andDignity Foundation for Children in encouragingCLCs to follow the Malaysian curriculum to makethe case stronger for the Malaysian Government tounconditionally open the doors of public schools toundocumented children.

The second reason behind this is to make it easier forchildren to integrate into Malaysian education, if andwhen the Malaysian Government changes its policies.

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 academicbackgrounds, their desire to be close to their own children who study at thesecentres and to help other kids from their own communities.

Teaching is a better option than working in restaurants or in construction thoughsome take up part time jobs after school hours or during holidays. Dedicated andhighly committed, they work long hours often for very little pay, alongside localand expatriate volunteers guiding children through their formative years.

Often they explore unconventional methods of instruction, singing, dancingand playing games in classrooms to motivate children and uplift the kids’ and theirown spirits.

Despite serious financial and emotional challenges and living in uncertainty for yearsin Sabah, many of these teachers work hard to: educate hundreds of children,identify depression or other issues in students, engage in fostering friendship amongpupils from different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds, handhold studentswho are unable to cope academically and impress upon them and their families thebenefits of education.

Harvest Centre Borneo concurs with UNICEF inacknowledging the crucial importance of and theneed for a comprehensive approach thatrecognizes the rights of all children in the context ofstateless and undocumented children in Sabah.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)categorizes a comprehensive set of children’s rightsunderpinned by the principle of non-discrimination.

The rights enshrined in the CRC must be guaranteedto all children regardless of their additionalprotection needs and violations of those rightsequally prioritized.

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

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)

2. Birth Registration

Birth registration enables undocumented children toobtain a birth certificate – a document recording theregistration and officially recognizing the child’s legalidentity.

Birth registration can contribute to the protection ofundocumented children from human rights violationsstemming from doubts about their age

Harvest Centre Borneo’s interpretation is thatundocumented children whose births are notregistered may be more vulnerable to humantrafficking and other forms of abuse andexploitation that includes child marriage.

3. Health Care

The right of the child to the reasonablestandard of health is guaranteed inArticle 24 of the CRC.

The CRC is explicit that this includes theright to health care facilities and services.

However, access to health care servicesand public health care systems varieswidely and are often inaccessible toundocumented children in Sabah.

Undocumented children separation fromparents and adapting to parental absencecan also significantly impact children’s mentalhealth and psycho-social development.

In some cases, the parental deportation canlead to children losing contact with theirparents altogether with potentially severeimplications for their mental health and well-being even though in most cases thecommunity that the children lives in ralliesbehind them by providing and taking care ofthese children needs during the parent’sabsence.

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.

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)

“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,

THANK

YOU