THERE is nothing stopping Maszlee Malik in his efforts to provide free education to pupils with difficulties mastering reading, writing and counting, despite having limited resources and funds.

The former education minister said even with limited funds, his Untuk Malaysia initiative managed to sponsor 100 academically weak pupils from the B40 category although their original target was to help 1,000 pupils.

The remaining 900 pupils will still receive help but in stages depending on the amount of funds received, he said.

“We did not reject these pupils but we will do it in stages depending on the availability of funds.

“That’s why we are appealing to corporations or foundations to help these pupils. The pupils are waiting,” the Simpang Renggam MP told The Malaysian Insight.

Community support is important as the programme depends 100% on public funds, he said.

“It (public funding) is a critical component. From that, we provide reading materials, teaching aids and also cover the expenses (costs) of engaging volunteer teachers and ensuring healthy nutrition for the children.

“Whether we like it or not, we need the support and backing of the community. This programme from the people to the people.

“What we do today will determine the future of the country in 10, 20 or 30 years to come. If these pupils cannot be saved in time, they could become a national problem in the future.

“We want to make sure that they do not turn out to be a problem but an asset to the country.”

Maszlee also said the Untuk Malaysia civil society group doesn’t compromise on quality, safety and the health of pupils and their volunteer teachers despite facing funding constraints.

He launched the Untuk Malaysia movement last November to address learning problems faced by pupils since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country.

The programme targets preschool to year six pupils facing difficulty learning to read, write and count.

The effort was also initiated at the urging of the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) in a report asking the government and all parties to take into account the issue of poor pupils struggling in their studies.

The movement’s director of operations Hafizul Faiz previously said they could not confirm the actual number of such pupils in Malaysia but suspect that the number is large.

This was because, just after four days of its launch, the #SelamatkanMuridCicir project received 2,000 applications, he said.

The project involves three groups –struggling pupils, volunteer teachers and the public who can sponsor the programme or report dropout cases in their area.

Maszlee said the intervention programme officially started last week and will involve the entire nation, except Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak.

The programme will run for 10 months for the pupils to master the three essential skills. It involves two one-hour sessions in a week.

“This phase needs to be monitored because we do not want to compromise on the issue of quality, safety and health of the children.

“So far, based from feedback received, we find that volunteer teachers all over the country have shown positive and exciting reports,” he said.

Let teachers teach

Maszlee said the programme must continue although schools nationwide have reopened.

He said the 180 days or so that were lost due to school closures and substituted with online learning at home must be replaced.

“In school, they need to go through a routine programme but in the interim, we use this intervention programme to replace the lost 180 days,” he said.

Most parents are able to provide other learning alternatives, such as providing devices for online lessons or hiring tutors to come to the home during the school closure, he said.

“The 1,000 pupils that we have with us from the poor can’t afford such things. There are households with six siblings but they only have a single device, which belongs to a mother, who has to go out to work.

“From the report that we received, many children from this group could not follow the PDPR (online lessons), hence there was a drop in literacy, and their illiteracy is what we want to rescue.”

The former minister, at the same time, expresses concern over obstacles faced by volunteer teachers, many of whom are also school teachers.

He hopes for support and cooperation from the government not to ban school teachers from participating in the programme.

“The support and backing of the government are important, it should not prohibit and hinder this effort. Even if it does not help, at least do not stop the teachers who want to help these children.

“We are worried that some teachers who want to be involved are warned not to get involved. This will affect the educational process,” Maszlee said.

Untuk Malaysia’s goal is to help and save the generation of lagging pupils, and he does not want it to be mired with political issues.

“If today, we open the doors of education to our children, it means that we are closing the doors of prisons.

“This is important if we want to save the future of our country, reject the politics of racist ideology and work together to save our children.” – March 9, 2021.