Teen defied mum and approached MP for help

[makapaaa]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>While free scholarships are given to FTrash?


Teen defied mum and approached MP for help
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Raihana has only had three years of basic education, having started schooling at the age of 14, but she is keen to continue studying. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->The first time Raihana set foot in a classroom, she was 14 years old.
While her peers were learning trigonometry, she was just getting a grasp of basic addition and subtraction.
She could neither read in English nor speak the language.
'The first day of school, the teacher gave me some maths questions but I didn't understand anything,' said the well-groomed 17-year-old sheepishly.
Raihana was late for school - by seven years - because her mother refused to enrol her.
'I would fight with my mum to let me go to school but she just wouldn't,' recalled a frustrated Raihana. 'She's very controlling and would follow me everywhere.'
It was only after she went to her Member of Parliament for help that her mother finally relented, and she was enrolled in Jamiyah Business School (JBS).
The school, part of voluntary welfare organisation Jamiyah Singapore, provides free education to those who are between nine and 18 years old - comprising mostly school dropouts.
Throughout her growing years, while her peers wore uniforms and carried textbooks to school, the single child stayed home - a four-room HDB flat in Boon Lay - with her unwed and jobless mother as well as her grandmother, watching TV.
They also scoured coffee shops, drains and even rubbish bins for drink cans.
'Each week, we would have six big bags to sell for $30,' she said. 'Sometimes we had money for food, sometimes we didn't.'
At 13, she used her mother's identity card to secure a cleaning job at a swimming complex because she wanted to supplement the household income. She was fired when they found out her age.
She eventually pushed her mother into getting a job; the older woman is now a dishwasher at a foodcourt.
Raihana has since completed basic primary education at JBS and spends two days a week at a youth hub attending music and work-skill classes.
But her greatest wish is to be able to further her studies and improve her English. She knows her basic education is not enough to secure her a good job.
She said: 'I want more knowledge. I wish I had gone to school.'
Mavis Toh

 

[makapaaa]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>April 19, 2009
Special report: kids who don't go to school
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Some parents simply don't care
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Indifference, financial woes among reasons for kids not being registered in schools </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Mavis Toh
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->When he was seven, Zul wondered why, unlike his neighbourhood friends, he never had to go to school.

He later found out that he was never enrolled because his parents did not want him to be 'contaminated' by the teachings in secular schools, he said.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Families on the move
'We even comb beaches, carparks, arcades and public toilets looking for gypsy families who have outstayed their welcome with friends and relatives.'
MS SUE CHENG of the Singapore Children's Society's Research and Outreach Centre


School not on their mind
'We talk about education but they are thinking about how to get the next meal. They are so overwhelmed that they are paralysed and don't know what to do any more.'
MR YUSOF ISMAIL of Ain Society


Parents send wrong signals
'In some cases, the non-committal attitude of some parents directly endorses the message that it's all right not to go to school.'
MR CHUA CHYE HOCK, vice-principal of Tanjong Katong Primary School



</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>While children his age were studying, Zul and his younger brother played at East Coast beach where they stayed in a tent. It was only at the age of 13 that he received free education courtesy of a self-help group.
'I was so frustrated that my parents never sent me to school. Now I'm so much behind in my studies,' said Zul, now 16, in Malay. He is not conversant in English.
Recently, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said that 1,483 children did not register for Primary 1 this year by the given deadline.
After reminders, the parents of all but 152 children subsequently signed up. Of the 152, 150 were later found to be residing overseas. That leaves two unregistered children whose whereabouts are unknown.
The latest number is a slight drop from that six years ago, when schooling was made mandatory under a new Compulsory Education Act. That year, 1,973 children were not registered by the stipulated deadline.
All children born after 1996 are required to have at least six years of schooling.
Anyone who fails to ensure that his child attends school may face a maximum fine of $5,000 or one year in jail, or both.
Each year, MOE matches those who have registered for Primary 1, and those exempted from the system, against birth records. It then writes to the parents of non-registered children inquiring about schooling arrangements.
If the parents do not respond to the reminder letters, liaison officers head down to the last-known address to check if the family still lives there.
Notes are left if no one is home, and officers make up to three visits.
The ministry said that children who are not registered for school often come from complex backgrounds.
Some have parents who are divorced, living separately or do not want child custody.
Some children miss school because the adults are lax or indifferent. Older siblings who are dropouts can also be a negative influence.
The Singapore Children's Society (SCS) is roped in by the ministry when counselling is needed to persuade parents to send their children to school.
Since 2003, 37 children who did not register for school have been referred to SCS. Three cases are still unresolved.
Very often, tracking down the families can be challenging for SCS counsellors because they are no longer at their last-known addresses.
The counsellors will check with other help groups and even the prisons to see if a parent is behind bars.
Ms Sue Cheng, director of SCS' Research and Outreach Centre, said: 'We even comb beaches, carparks, arcades and public toilets looking for gypsy families who have outstayed their welcome with friends and relatives.'
She added that some families are grateful when counsellors go to their aid. These families often do not know there is help available if they cannot afford their children's school fees.
Some guardians are also grandparents who are unaware that the children have reached schooling age.
But counsellors also get doors slammed in their faces by some uncooperative parents.
Some give conflicting data because they are dodging the law for crimes committed. Others have older children who did not attend school and thus see no need for education.
'They ask, I don't have a problem with my child not going to school, why do you?' said Mr Muhammad Hafiz, a counsellor with SCS.
Mr Yusof Ismail, chief executive of Ain Society, which deals with troubled youth, said these parents are often heavily in debt, facing multiple problems and bogged down with bread-and-butter issues. Some are also dealing with chronic illnesses and huge medical bills.
'We talk about education but they are thinking about how to get the next meal,' he said. 'They are so overwhelmed that they are paralysed and don't know what to do any more.'
SCS also works with other agencies to help families obtain housing, jobs and financial aid.
Even when the children are registered for school, getting them to attend classes regularly could be a problem.
Between 2003 and last year, MOE referred 107 irregular attendance cases to SCS.
Educational psychologist Poon Siew-Win, who previously worked with MOE to counsel students, said these children often have trouble maintaining routines and lack a stable home environment and adult supervision.
They also tend to skip classes after long school breaks, said SCS counsellors. To entice them to return, counsellors give out free alarm clocks, water bottles, bags and umbrellas.
Some even make morning calls or personally pick up the children from their homes for school.
At Tanjong Katong Primary School, once a child is absent for three consecutive days, the school counsellor pays a home visit. On average, there are five such pupils each year.
Vice-principal Chua Chye Hock said: 'In some cases, the non-committal attitude of some parents directly endorses the message that it's all right not to go to school.'
Ms Poon said the students are at a higher risk of dropping out after six years because in their homes, education is not regarded as important.
After-school care could be one way of tackling the problem, said Reverend Sam Kuna, executive director of voluntary welfare organisation Teen Challenge.
Such programmes will make sure children have constant guidance, stimulation and socialisation.
At Beyond Social Services, a welfare organisation which helps children at risk of delinquency, social workers start early: They scour hospital maternity wards and befriend mothers in need of social support. Four hundred such women are identified yearly.
This programme links preschoolers to childcare and kindergartens so they do not miss out on school.
Primary school education is important because it is where a child is taught foundational knowledge and skills, stressed MOE.
Help groups interviewed said that the Compulsory Education Act will ensure that fewer children fall through the cracks.
'Every child is entitled to education,' said Ms Cheng. 'The Act deters parents from depriving them, and (sends the message) to take education seriously.'
[email protected] How do you think cases of irregular student attendance can be reduced? Have your say at [email protected]

Not my plobem! I donch know! *ta*ta*​

 

[johnny333]

Isn't it mandatory for children to attend at least primary school?

Spore is so efficient in enforcing ERP, parking rules, assaults on MPs but how about the laws that don't bring in $$$. Whats the point of having laws when theres no one to enforce them

 

[jw5]

Isn't it mandatory for children to attend at least primary school?

Spore is so efficient in enforcing ERP, parking rules, assaults on MPs but how about the laws that don't bring in $$$. Whats the point of having laws when theres no one to enforce them

Hahaha and she thinks the mp will help her? Hahaha.

 

[Ah Guan]

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Teen defied mum and approached MP for help


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Gutsy girl

 

[popdod]

Not my plobem! I donch know! *ta*ta*​

How many pigtures u kept in ur album??
*LOL*

:p

 

[johnny333]

Hahaha and she thinks the mp will help her? Hahaha.

When your young you believe in fairy tales :(

However there is no excuse for the 66% who should know better