The Malaysian Insight

GRACE Training Centre, a school in Tawau, Sabah, is the only school licensed by the Education Ministry to teach primary-aged children without citizenship.

The founder, Rev Teh Yung Huat of Calvary Church Tawau, said education is the means to reduce social problems in the state.

“Many stateless children go around scavenging, loitering and sometimes get involved in theft. This has been happening for 10 years,” Teh told The Malaysian Insight.

“One way to keep the children occupied and prevent these problems from happening is to provide them with education.

“We rented a shop lot, and we started with 34 children. Little did we know that the number of students would keep on increasing,” Teh told The Malaysian Insight.

There are now more than 500 stateless children attending the school, which opened in 2010 and operated out of three shophouses converted into classrooms.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, two more adjacent lots were acquired to meet social distancing rules.

“Presently, there are 527 students divided into morning and afternoon classes.

“We have students aged five to 16, and we have 12 full-time, paid teachers plus some volunteers,” Teh said.

Tawau is on the east coast of Sabah so many of the school’s students are the offspring of Filipino or Indonesian migrant workers and the Bajau Laut community.  

Stateless people have no right to education, healthcare and legal employment in Malaysia.

Data from the United Nations Refugee Agency show there are 10,000 stateless people in West Malaysia.

Licensed pioneer

In 2016, the school received a licence from the Education Ministry to teach non-citizens after officials from Putrajaya came to check on the school, Teh said.

“We told them that we wanted to apply for a licence but didn’t know how as there was no such thing as a school for the stateless. 

“They saw what we did and they were touched by what they saw. We were invited to do a presentation in Putrajaya, where we were asked why we were doing this.

“We said we have to give the kids a right to education.”

The school syllabus is loosely based on the national curriculum but its emphasis is on English, Malay, Chinese and Mathematics.

“Beside academics, we teach them music and culinary skills. We tried to teach basic electrical knowledge as well. 

“Where possible, we try to get people with useful skills to come and teach them,” Teh added.

The school also has a library and a computer lab. It rents the field at a nearby government school for its sports day while the students’ graduation is held at the Calvary Church hall.

The school charges a nominal fee of RM30 a month for primary school, and RM50 a month for secondary school.

Teh said it costs around RM20,000 a month to run the school, with most of the funds coming from the church and the rest from individual donations. 

“If the parents can’t pay the fee, we will find sponsors for them. Depending on their family’s situation, we would normally expect them to at least buy the school books and uniforms.

“We want the students’ families to share some responsibility by paying something for their children’s education.”

The challenge though, is that not every child wants to study and not all the students end up graduating, Teh said. Coming from poor backgrounds, the need to earn money often lures students away. 

“The reality is, not everyone wants to finish school. Once they realise they can earn money, they stop. 

“Education is not a priority, earning money is. By the time students reach the secondary school, many are no longer with us.”

There are successes, however. This year, Teh said two students will be sitting the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia as independent candidates.

“And one of our students went to the Philippines to attend university.

“I’m very pleased that what we teach is up to standard, and the students can use it to go to university.” – June 30, 2022.