The Poor Can't School

Assalamualaikum WBT.

I wrote earlier this week about wishing for Dr Danial's book about the connection Religion and Science. Well, gues what?

I finally got them! Alhamdulillah! Ni yang sayang lebih sikit ni.

 And while I was walking around the book shop (more like, book fair because it's in a stall on a fete), I saw this book. 

It strike me because I was reminded of Laskar Pelangi  from Andrea Hirata, (which, I have NOT read yet), but it seems like both is about education in the hardcore poor kids. (oh, by the way, you can download Laskar Pelangi e-book, I did not know that! ). Laskar Pelangi was award winning, even went to movie and theater as well. 

and here's the book cover. Need to remeber cuz it's on my wishlist now!

Schooling

Basically, according to a fellow blogger here,  Orang Miskin Dilarang Sekolah (The Poor Can't School, in English) is about a poor kid from a poor family, living in an uber-poor village, trying to get some proper education for him and his friends. 

The odd thing is when I read the title, I'm reminded of the schoolboys and girls here in Malaysia. To think that we are all blessed with lots of schools and free textbooks all year and scholarships abundant, we still have the poor who can't school.

Yesterday I read of a news article about a child, barely 14, has stopped schooling. Her brothers and sisters had difficulty learning too, since the family is poor and her father keeps beating them up. They ran away and was saved by the authorities.

And that's not to mention people who don't go to school because they don't have identification card despite born and bread in Malaysia with Malaysian parents, plus those who are handicapped and stopped schooling because there are not enough facilities for handicapped people in schools in the area (trust me, my friend is one of them). 

Of course there are stories of kids who skipped school due to financial difficulties. Although yearly school fees are abolished, some "specific" fees imposed by schools still mantained; not to mention the inability of the parents to provide food and transport for the kid, resulting in skipping school. Of course there are scholarship, but the lucky, excellent few is entitled for them. Still, there are people who are poor but still insists on going to school anyway, while their parents trying to make ends meet to ensure their education.

Rich But Poor

However, on  the other end of the spectrum is people who CAN afford to go to school, but refuses to do so. We've seen them all back in our schooldays too--those who find every reason to skip school, those who reach school with a full pocket and brand new motorbike but drove away to hang out at the mall, those who would rather work than stay at school reading books and finishing assignments, and those who skipped school for the glitz and glam of showbusiness.

These are the people that I call Rich But Poor. Rich enough to afford to go to school, but poor enough because of lack of education. The people who think that education is IMPOSED on them, like it's a RESPONSIBILITY, rather than a PRIVILEGE.

For these people, I just wish they would switch places with the poor and see how it's like to spend your childhood working as if yuour livelihood depended on it. No same-age friends, no football field to play with, no sports room to borrow racquet to play badminton, no AV room to watch videos, no library to lounge and read romance novels, and no cheap, hot food from the cafetaria. 

All day, dusk till dawn, working all the way. That's what my friends are doing now. They toil away the day and go home at nine or ten p.m just to sleep till the next working day. And I am here, still studying. Every time they see me they go like "oh! how good it is to learn. Make the best of it. I know you hate it now, but you'll miss it when you go to the working world."

Remember when you see those kids playing truant at the mall, tell them education is a privilege. Go on, go educate yourself, go and find knowledge even if it means reaching China!

Salam :)