TROUBLED youth, especially from public housing schemes, are usually ostracised and face social exclusion because of their antisocial behaviour.

Many a time, these youth also struggle to find a place in society.

This is where civil society group Myskills Foundation steps in, giving these youngsters, termed “at-risk youth”, a chance to reform their lives, said CEO Devasharma Gangadaran.

It does this by instilling in these youth the relevant skills to uplift their socio-economic status.

Devasharma said the youth under the foundation’s care had a rough start in life.

Many face a myriad of issues, such as coming from dysfunctional families or are homeless. They may have been expelled from school, or live in a cramped and unsafe environment, exposed to gangsterism and those with life-threatening habits, he said.

Identifying and intervening in their lives at an early age is vital, he said, because it makes it easier to bring about changes in them.

“The earlier we identify, ideally those who are from 12 to 14 years old, the easier it is to change them because they’re still young.

“Those 15 and above tend to be a bit more rebellious because they are already quite deep into their problems or whatever activities they are into. But we still try,” Devasharma told The Malaysian Insight.

Asked why most youth from poor urban areas are not competing equally with their peers in medium- and high-income groups, he said most problems start at school.

The system judges pupils based on examination results, not skills.

Devasharma lauded former education minister Maszlee Malik’s move to remove examinations for the lower primary level and the abolition of streams for form four students.

However, he said, more schools should adopt TVET, or technical and vocational education and training, for underachievers.

“Some struggle to cope with subjects in school. Middle- and high-income parents can afford to send their kids to tuition, but the poor can’t. In the end, their ability is judged based on exam marks.

“They might not have an interest in studying, but what is the school doing to identify their skills and enhance them? Probably not much. So, gradually, pupils lose interest in their studies and then feel they can’t contribute. So, they leave.

“Now, this is the point where a family’s poverty is going to continue. The parents probably had no education, now, the child would not have one. So, the cycle of being and living in poverty repeats.”

The foundation has been working since 2010 on providing a new lease of life for troubled youth, who have turned out successful. They are given electrical, mechatronic, legal clerkship and baking training.

Devasharma said since its inception, Myskills has reached out to 12,000 at-risk youth and enrolled 1,600 of them, and 81% have gained employment.

Towards the end of 2018, 120 of its students moved to their newly built campus in Kalumpang, Hulu Selangor.

“We moved to our new campus, where all the maintenance works are done by our boys,” he said with pride, adding that once the women’s residential block is completed, female students will move there.

The foundation also offers social enterprise ventures – De Devine Cafe in Jalan Scott, Brickfields; My FreshFarm (selling organic produce) and MyMoringa (manufacturing and selling moringa capsules).

Devasharma said with such social enterprises, youth are able to believe in themselves, have high self-esteem and feel confident that they can achieve something in life.

Although it cannot help all at-risk youth, he said, the foundation is committed to changing the lives of those who turn up at its door to escape poverty. – January 16, 2020.