CHILDREN living in low-cost flats in Kuala Lumpur lack a conducive place to do their homework and often face distractions while trying to study, a Unicef study found.

Eight out of 10 children or 81% studied in their living rooms, while 15% had no place to study, the ‘Children Without: A study of urban child poverty and deprivation in low-cost flats in Kuala Lumpur’ research released today said.

The Unicef study done with local research firm DM Analytics, was conducted from August 28 to September 30 last year and involved 17 low cost flats in the capital and in Selangor, with 996 households and 2,142 children as respondents.

The lack of space correlates with the small units these children and their families live in. Households in the study earned a median income of RM2,500.

The study also found that 14% of children had moderate to weak academic performance.

Most parents The Malaysian Insight spoke to said there was not enough space at home for their children, let alone a conducive study space.

For example, a respondent in the study, Nur Atikah Mohd Shaidi, said she did her homework while sitting right next to the television.

“In Nur’s case, the television is right next to her and this would mean that she needs to study elsewhere if her family members would like to watch TV,” the report read.

Those met at the Pantai PPR flats in Lembah Pantai said their units, measuring a little over 600 sq ft, barely fit a family of five. It is common for the children to study in living rooms while other family members eat or watch television.

Nurul Hudaini, 16, said while she had considerate family members who prioritised her study time, her friends were not so fortunate and had to accommodate three generations living in a single unit.

“My parents, they are concerned about my studies so they make the time. Some of my friends are not so lucky,” Nurul told The Malaysian Insight at the Pantai PPR flats.

A fellow-resident named Azimah said she made use of community tuition centres.

“They have tuition and they learn at home as well. There are distractions but they make do by studying in the room. They can learn much more at tuition”.

To deal with the lack of space, concerned volunteers at the Pantai PPR organised a common study space to help big families.

Resident Dr Shailawati Omar, who has two school-going children, started a volunteer tuition programme that runs three times a week for free, hoping it will inspire residents to give priority to their children’s education.

“There are problems in big families. When parents have low education, they do not pay attention to their children’s (education) needs,” said the former lecturer with a PhD in human resources who runs the programme with other volunteers.

“(At the very least), parents can send their children to us at the community centre.”

Families in low-cost flats have also found government initiatives like the 1Malaysia Library helpful where the children can temporarily escape from their cramped homes to study.

A. Kalaiselvi who has four school-going children said the Pantai PPR had a well-lit library where her children studied.

“It can be daunting for parents to manage their children’s education but thanks to community initiatives, we are able to do it,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

Besides the lack of space to study, 75% of low-cost flat dwellers in the research also felt their living environment to be unsafe for children at night.

The research suggested that a safe shared space for children should be created in community centres as places to study.

 “Safe social spaces for school-aged children in low cost flats should be formed. It should be within the flats, where students can come chill, do homework and stuff,” said Dr Muhammad Abdul Khalid of DM analytics.

However, despite the distractions, the report found that children in the study also performed on par with their peers on the national average.

30% of respondents scored A in Mathematics compared to the national average of 31% in 2013 and 30% also scored A in Science compared to the national average of 26%.

Shailawati said more needs to be done to stress the importance of education on parents living in low-cost flats.

 “Education is the way out from poverty. Its importance needs to be stressed on parents as it is their (children’s) future,” she said. – February 26, 2018.