Spotlight: Refugees' struggle for education

[Zomi for Federalization and Democratization of Burma]

======
Zomi Education Center, Cheras, Malaysia.

Can you see, Nga Tin Aye, that Zomis are almost everywhere?
======

24 May 2012 | Last updated at 08:33AM

Spotlight: Refugees' struggle for education

By Elizabeth Zachariah


LEARNING TO COPE: Some 4,000 refugee children are studying in about
100 learning centres nationwide. The centres have survived on the
goodwill of charitable organisations and volunteers. Elizabeth
Zachariah visited two learning centres and this was what she saw
.
==
Photo:
image.jpg

Grace, a 15-year-old student at the Zomi Education Centre in Cheras,
helping to teach the younger children in the morning before she
attends classes in the afternoon.
==

NESTLED in the heart of the city, in Jalan Imbi, is a "school" on the
top floor of a shoplot. It caters to about 25 children, aged 4 to 17,
who study in small, dingy rooms formed by thin partitions.

This is no ordinary school for the students here are refugees and they
are being tutored by volunteers and older refugees who had "graduated"
from this school.

It is not called a school but a learning centre, which operates from
Monday to Friday, from early morning till late afternoon.

There are about 4,000 refugee students studying at more than 100
learning centres nationwide. These 4,000 students make up only 35 per
cent of the number of refugee children of school-going age.

And unlike local schools, which are funded by the government, these
learning centres are run by the refugees and funded by caring locals
and non-governmental organisations.

The children who are lucky enough to have access to education attend
either education projects run by the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) in collaboration with NGOs or learning centres,
which are organised by the refugee communities with the support of non-
refugee volunteers.

UNHCR external relations officer Yante Ismail said the refugee
community recognised the importance of education and had set up
informal learning centres to equip their children with basic reading,
writing and arithmetic skills.

"Because they are denied proper education, the communities have done a
remarkable job in setting up the learning centres even with limited
resources," Yante said.

"However, the projects and learning centres are not formal education
so the children cannot get into universities or further their
education."

The UNHCR, Yante said, was concerned with the fact that the lack of
basic education among refugee children would create a generation of
illiterate, unskilled and not self-sufficient people.

There are seven education projects run by the UNCHR in Kuala Lumpur,
Johor, Selangor and Penang. The teachers in the project use Malaysian
school textbooks to teach English, Math, Science and Bahasa Malaysia.

"Only about 1,000 children attend education projects while the rest
attend learning centres," Yante said.

The community-based learning centres are informal classes which are
run by volunteers from the refugee community, faith-based groups and
the private sector.

They are set up wherever there are refugee communities with a large
number of school-going children. The number of students in each
learning centre varies from 15 to as many as 100.

A typical learning centre consists of several classes with children of
similar ages grouped together to form a class. Classes normally start
at 9 or 10am and would last for about two hours. Some schools have
morning and afternoon sessions to accommodate the large number of
students.

The lack of resources, including qualified teachers and funding,
restrict the scope and reach of these classes. Classes, which are
usually held in rented flats or shophouses, are overcrowded and lack
basic teaching equipment like stationery.

Yante said there was a growing need for volunteers to help with
teaching and administration as well as skill-building training for the
teachers.

"Besides that, these learning centres are in dire need of funds for
transportation of children, rental and utility bills and meals."

To meet the costs, the learning centres collect a minimal fee of RM10
to RM30 from each child who can afford it.

Refugee community organisations also help pool funds to support the
basic needs of rental and UNHCR provides a monthly stipend for a
limited number of teachers, textbooks, stationery, school bags and
first-aid kits.

Yante said the UNHCR also trained the teachers and coordinates in
areas like curriculum and examinations and had a small grant called
the Social Protection Fund, where refugees could apply for funding to
help with projects, including education.

Faith-based organisations, civil society groups and individuals are
known to contribute to the learning centres in a variety of ways,
including donating furniture, food and space for the classes to be
held.

"Malaysians have been so generous in so many ways.

"There are many who volunteer as teachers and cook for the kids,"
Yante said, adding that there were about 500 volunteer teachers
registered with the UNHCR.

There are currently 96,300 refugees and asylum-seekers registered with
UNHCR in Malaysia, with 82 per cent from Myanmar and the others from
Sri Lanka, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Read more: Spotlight: Refugees' struggle for education - General - New
Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/spotlight-refugees-struggle-for-education-1.87056#ixzz1vpQJ1JD0



http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/spotlight-refugees-struggle-for-education-1.87056

======