Foundation launches teaching module aimed at educating Orang Asli children

 

P Santhi, who heads the foundation, said the initiative represented a significant milestone in their ongoing efforts to empower and uplift the communities through education.

PETALING JAYA: 

The RYTHM Foundation has launched a new teaching module, titled 

Sikulah Bateq

, aimed at educating Orang Asli children who are in preschool and Standard 1.

P Santhi, who heads the foundation, said the initiative represented a significant milestone in their ongoing efforts to empower and uplift the communities through education.

“This module addresses both academic and life’s skills. This module was designed with the holistic development of the children in mind.

The module integrates traditional subjects with lessons on health, hygiene, environmental awareness and value-based education,

 she told a press conference after a roundtable session on the education and livelihood of the Orang Asli here.

Santhi said the module was launched with the aim of nurturing well-rounded individuals among the Orang Asli children so that they would be confident, capable and connected to their roots.

The foundation focuses on empowering communities and transforming lives through strategic partnerships, community service, and volunteerism.

It emphasises on education, empowerment, and environmental sustainability.

RYTHM Foundation chairman E Umayal highlighted that many students, including from the Orang Asli community, dropped out of school before completing their basic education, with certain groups recording dropout rates of more than 50%.

Umayal said there were multiple reasons for this including an inability to adapt to the mainstream schooling system and uninformed parents.

“Because the parents are struggling every day to live, they think, what is education going to do? So, they don’t encourage their children to go to school.

Additionally, if students in schools are not educated and informed (about the Orang Asli), they’re going to mistreat the pupils (from the community),

 she said, adding that many Orang Asli children suffer from low self-esteem as a result.

Umayal also stressed the importance of educating teachers on the lives and culture of Orang Asli.

Even if they attend school and go home, their parents can’t teach or help them with their homework because their parents are uneducated,

 she said.

She added that Orang Asli children must also be given proper support by teachers and school wardens to give them the best chances of completing their basic education. - FMT