Kuala Lumpur, 25 February 2022 – The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) has launched the Sekolah Kita digital campaign to teach Malaysians about the challenges facing Orang Asli students, and to reimagine schools to be more inclusive to them. At the heart of the multimedia campaign launched today is the question, “What is your dream school?”

Titled “Sekolah Kita”, the campaign website (sekolahkita.my) is an interactive “lesson” comprising five chapters – each chapter is a short story based on an Orang Asli student’s description of their dream school.

“I want a school that’s in the jungle, a simple building,” says an Orang Asli girl in one of the stories. “We would learn how to catch fish, build houses, about how animals live.”

While conveying their aspirations, these stories speak to their current challenges too. Another Orang Asli girl describes her dream school as being a tall building right within her village, so she wouldn’t have to take an eight-hour lorry ride to school.

Built into the website is a treasure hunt-style game where visitors can discover expert recommendations, hidden within each short story, for how we can make education more accessible for the Orang Asli community.

Upon finding all 12 hidden recommendations, a reward is unlocked. It is an interactive classroom builder, where visitors can design the classroom of their dreams and share it on social media.

“Education access for Orang Asli children is a long-standing issue,” says IDEAS CEO Tricia Yeoh. “We chose this innovative approach, using interactive tools, in the hope that we can spark new conversations, and perhaps arrive at fresh approaches to solving this problem.”

IDEAS had previously published a research paper that analysed the challenges faced by Orang Asli students, and recommended potential policy solutions. The Sekolah Kita campaign draws from this research paper, and presents its findings in an interactive format.

One of the key findings from the research paper is the importance of moving away from the prevailing ‘deficit discourse’, where the Orang Asli way of life is seen as the reason for poor academic performance or school attendance. This creates a school environment where Orang Asli children feel unwelcome or discriminated against.

“This is the change we need – to start seeing Orang Asli traditional knowledge and customs as a valuable resource, and as something that can be taught in schools for the benefit of all students,” says Yeoh. 

“In this sense, it is not so much the Orang Asli who need to change, but our schools that need to change. We need to reimagine our schools in a way that every child, no matter their ethnicity or class, is celebrated.”

As part of its ongoing advocacy efforts on the issue, IDEAS will be organising a roundtable discussion on the 28th of February with the Malaysian Ministry of Education and other stakeholders to identify key areas where collaboration can generate high impact, for the benefit of Orang Asli students.

The Sekolah Kita campaign is produced by IDEAS, in collaboration with The Fourth.

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Download Media Statement PDF File Here

For enquiries, please contact:
Zokhri Idris, Ph.D, Director, External Relations
T: +603 2070 8881/8882 | E: zokhri@ideas.org.my