45% orang asli pupils drop out after Year Six

45% orang asli pupils drop out after Year Six
Thursday January 26, 2006
By Roslina Mohamad

KUANTAN: Almost 45% of orang asli pupils who studied at primary schools in Pahang failed to continue at secondary level.

State Health, Social Welfare and Orang Asli Affairs Committee chairman Datuk Ishak Muhammad said the figure was alarming and measures should be taken to reduce the number.

He said that records showed the number of orang asli studying in Year Six from 2000 until 2004 was 5,168.

“However, only 2,864 or 55.5% of them continued their studies in Form One.

“Another 2,304 pupils or 44.5% dropped out of school,” he said, adding that the situation was largely due to the attitude and way of life of the community.

Ishak said that boredom and laziness had been identified as the two main causes of the high dropout rate by a local research group.

He said the other reasons cited in their study were that they were not interested to learn, fed up of getting scolded by teachers and preferred to help their parents at work.

Ishak said that concerted efforts were needed from all parties to educate and create awareness on the importance of education among indigenous people.

Among the programmes earmarked were motivational courses for heads of families and women folk, tuition, educational aid, transportation and accommodation for those in remote areas, and scholarships, he added.

Ishak said the Education Ministry had built hostels for orang asli students in SK Betau, SK Kuala Koyan and SK Permatang Keledang in Kuala Lipis, SM Tengku Kudin and SM Koyan in Raub, and SM Sultan Ahmad Shah in Cameron Highlands.

“A total of 156 orang asli received federal scholarships last year, while in 2004, 151 of them enjoyed similar benefits,” he said.

Currently, there are 11,852 orang asli families in Pahang of which 5,936 are listed as hardcore poor and 3,347 as poor. -- The Star.