in collaborationMajlis Keselamatan Negera (MKN)

National Security Council (NSC)

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 obligation underthe CRC (Convention on the Rights of the Child),all children in Malaysia are not denied accessto education.

The Government also constantly engages withinternational organisations such as UNICEF andUNHCR, and civil societies, to ensure that childrenof illegal immigrants attend informal classes tobe conducted by NGOs, such as, throughcommunity-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 and partners ofHarvest Centre Borneo.

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) on Immigrants 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 bythe Southern Filipino Community.

Statelessness is themost acute violation of the right to a nationality; awell-entrenched

principle of international humanrights law.

The stateless are vulnerable todiscriminatory andunequal treatment in accessing

andenjoying all other rights they are entitled to, from therights to education and

healthcare, to the freedomofassociationandexpression, the right to liberty and

security of theperson and the freedomofmovement.

•Questions about my past: How did I become stateless and what is being done toprotect other children from this problem?

•Questions about my present:Why am I disadvantaged and denied access to basicrights, andwhat is being done to protectme?

•Questions about my future:What hope do I have for my future and what steps arebeing taken to grantmeanappropriate nationality?

Under international law,astateless persons is someone “who isnotconsidered

asanational byanystate under theoperation of its law” (Article 1 of the 1954

Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons).

A person can be stateless in the country in which he or shewas born, has

always lived and has all family ties.

Statelessness rests on the fact of lacking a nationality, nothingmore.

Most stateless persons have notmoved from their homes and are found in

what can be described as their own country.

Where a person who “is not considered as a national by any State

under the operation of its law” also falls within the scope of the 1951

UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, he or she is a

stateless refugee.

That someone can simultaneously beboth stateless and a refugee,

asylum seeker or IDP does not lessen their experience of statelessness,

which should be taken into consideration when protecting and finding

durable solutions for them.

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.

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 of“Alternative Education Policy” amongundocumented children in Sabah.

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 childrenprior to their arrival in Sabah. Many become teachersfor several reasons: financial considerations, theiracademic backgrounds, their desire to be close totheir own children who study at these centres and tohelp other kids from their own communities.

Teaching is a better option than working inrestaurants or in construction though some take uppart time jobs after school hours or during holidays.Dedicated and highly committed, they work longhours often for very little pay, alongside local andexpatriate volunteers guiding children through theirformative years.

Our Teachers

Often they explore unconventional methods ofinstruction, singing, dancing and playing games inclassrooms to motivate children and uplift the kids’ and theirown spirits.

Despite serious financial and emotional challenges and living inuncertainty for years in Sabah, many of these teachers workhard to: educate hundreds of children, identify depression orother issues in students, engage in fostering friendship amongpupils from different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds,handhold students who are unable to cope academically andimpress upon them and their families the benefits ofeducation.

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)

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