By Nimitraa Youganesparan
Decades of government investment to improve education in Malaysia have achieved relatively limited gains for Orang Asli children, allowing them to fall through the gaps. In 2022, 4.65% of Orang Asli students failed to complete their secondary schooling, compared to the national average of 0.99%. The numbers are not accidental, rather they reflect a deeper systemic issue of inequitable access to education, perpetuating cycles of marginalisation and poverty. Acknowledging these persistent gaps, Malaysian policymakers are now seeking more effective strategies to uplift Orang Asli education, with recent plans increasingly drawing on international models for inspiration.
The 13th Malaysia Plan appears to be on the right track, as it looks to provide a more targeted approach to Orang Asli education through the planned expansion of community-based schools and direct school aid for parents. It sets targets to increase Orang Asli enrolment rates from 77% to 90% at the primary level, and from 46.25% to 80% at the secondary level, by 2030. Drawing inspiration from New Zealand, it aims to address key barriers to education access, particularly ambiguity around land ownership and infrastructure, through reforms to the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954. Poverty, transportation challenges, and digital exclusion are all contributing factors that further perpetuate this inequality, despite efforts from various stakeholders.
Fortifying hard infrastructure must be coupled with a deepening of soft (socially inclusive) infrastructure. Without accessible and culturally sensitive outreach, such as programmes and information provided in Orang Asli native languages, systemic exclusion is reinforced, further diminishing trust in public institutions. The Twelfth Malaysia Plan (2021-2025) previously outlined concrete goals to reverse education disparities by expanding early childhood care and education access, boosting technical and vocational training (TVET) enrolment, concerted information campaigns, and establishing schools in remote areas.
The 2023 midterm review of the Twelfth Malaysia Plan reported modest increases in TVET enrolment, with disparities in primary and secondary education outcomes. Weak coordination has slowed down the implementation of initiatives like the K9 and K11 school models, designed to reduce dropout rates by offering continuous education within remote communities. Currently, there are around 30 K9 schools and only 5 K11 schools, compared to the number of indigenous villages that reaches upwards of 800 in Peninsular Malaysia. This limited geographic rollout raises serious concerns about the accessibility of these initiatives for sparsely populated Orang Asli communities.
Malaysia’s recent efforts to consult New Zealand’s Māori community regarding the Aboriginal People’s Act 1954 amendment should inspire deeper dialogues on the core equitability principles underpinning their education system. Ka Hikitia, a cross-agency education strategy built on the principles of cooperation, participation, and protection, aims to empower Māori learners, allowing them agency and ensuring equal access to education. The concept has resulted in culturally grounded learning environments that prioritise the preservation and promotion of native languages and cultural identities within the larger educational framework. These principles provide significant insights and clear relevance for Malaysia’s Orang Asli.
Referencing Māori models is a positive step towards more substantive change that shapes the education system for the Orang Asli by the Orang Asli. True indigenisation necessitates the adaptation of practices to local realities as well as the empowerment of all Orang Asli voices at every stage of reform, including the implementation of new initiatives in their mother tongues. Successful implementation of the Thirteenth Malaysia Plan will be defined by whether transformation is not just done to Orang Asli students, but by them, for them.
Inspiration for community-led, inclusive, and culturally sensitive education programmes can be found in a recent pilot by the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS). The five-year programme, supported by Yayasan Sime Darby, collaborated with numerous stakeholders and the Seed Community for Orang Asli to develop and implement an education intervention driven by Orang Asli leaders, parents, and students. The Inclusive Education for Orang Asli initiative conducted thorough needs-based evaluations to address each community’s unique challenges and cultural priorities. The engagement was robust, involving students, parents, Tok Batins (village heads), teachers, and policy organisations such as JAKOA and the Ministry of Education. It increased trust, enrolment, retention, and learner engagement through collaborative dialogues and a curriculum that reflected Orang Asli languages, values, and lived experiences.
In education and across other policy areas, Malaysia must institutionalise and diversify Orang Asli representation to ensure their perspectives shape their own future. The government should simplify grant applications, provide information in the Orang Asli languages, and make educational programmes available for all communities. Sustained and accountable change requires moving beyond tokenistic involvement to providing Orang Asli with genuine decision-making power in policymaking bodies. Orang Asli communities are diverse, and treating them as a single group will not address their varied needs.
Only by elevating Indigenous leadership and fostering co-created solutions can Malaysia begin to dismantle the structural inequities that have long defined its education system. If policymakers are sincere in their commitment to equity, then Orang Asli communities must be not only consulted, but they must be empowered to lead.
