Education Ministry urged to examine student dropout from gender perspective
Former deputy education minister Teo Nie Ching called for the Education Ministry to conduct a survey on the dropout rates of male and female students after schools are reopened.
Speaking in an online forum yesterday (March 8), she said it is crucial for the ministry to examine the dropout rate from a gender perspective.
"We noticed that when secondary school education is not compulsory, due to some family issues, parents have the tendency to not send their girls to school.
"Sometimes they even think that marrying their girls off is one of the solutions. Or it is because the family actually needs an extra hand to make kuih-muih. Even though the girl is very keen on learning, the parents refuse to send her to school.
"The parents will ask, 'Who would help us make kuih-muih if our girls go to school? And what do I sell to make a living?'" Teo shared, stressing that these were real cases she came across during her time in the ministry.
She said that since primary schools reopened in March and secondary schools will be reopened in April, the ministry should analyse the dropout situation.
Currently, education is only compulsory up to Standard 6, or 12 years old, she added.
The DAP MP for Kulai also said the law should be amended to extend compulsory education to Form 5, or 17 years old. She hoped the ministry would push for this.
"After Form 3, the students can choose to go for vocational education, which is also a form of education," she said.
Teo was speaking in an online forum titled "Multi-stakeholders Virtual Dialogue: Where are Women in Malaysia Headed?" which was organised by the Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (Arrow) and the Gender Equality Initiative in Malaysia.
Umno's Dina Abu Zahar, Muda's Thanussha Francis Xavier, and TMC Life Sciences CEO Nadiah Wan were also panellists at the forum.
Protect children's rights to education
Teo went on to stress that extending compulsory education is not aimed at punishing poor families but is to protect children's rights to education.
Given the current situation, she said, the government does not have a legal position to intervene when parents refuse to send their children to secondary school.
She also said reopening schools now is essential because not every student owns a suitable device and has adequate internet coverage for online learning.
"According to a survey by the Education Ministry last April, 37 percent of students do not have suitable devices for online learning.
"Because of that and also the lack of accessibility to the internet, I think the reopening of schools should be the top priority when we fight the Covid-19 pandemic."
She also addressed the point of girls who dropped out of school being married by calling for a cross-party consensus to support an amendment to the law to ban child marriage.
There should also be a cross-party consensus on constitutional amendments to empower female citizens with the right to pass on their citizenship to their children who are born overseas, Teo added. - Mkini
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