‘Be serious about supporting students'

The Star

27-07-2025

At the recent launch of the Sekolah Angkat Madani initiative, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek stated that education must not be viewed solely through the lens of infrastructure provision, but rather as a holistic ecosystem that meets the full spectrum of student needs.
For many students in rural and underserved communities, the school building is only the beginning of their struggle. To realise this holistic vision, we must confront the less visible, yet deeply entrenched, barriers to educational access.
One such barrier is safe and affordable transportation. For families in rural and low-income communities, getting a child to school can be a logistical and financial challenge, sometimes costing up to RM30 a day as pointed out by the minister in her address. This, repeated over months, becomes insurmountable for many, contributing to absenteeism and dropouts.
This is where Malaysia must reconceptualise transportation support, not as a marginal welfare concern, but as a foundational pillar of educational equity. Solutions do exist so we need not start from scratch. Around the world, governments facing similar challenges have introduced innovative transport policies that offer useful lessons for Malaysia.
In Tamil Nadu, India, the state's school bus system provides free transport to rural students, boosting attendance and reducing dropout rates, particularly among girls. Similarly, South Africa's Scholar Transport Programme funds travel for students living more than 5km from school, contracting private providers under strict oversight to ensure both access and accountability.
We could adopt similar models or empower schools to manage their own transport services.
Whether through direct subsidies or school-led initiatives, the goal must be that no child is denied education because the journey is too costly or unsafe.
Another concern to address is hunger, which remains an underestimated barrier to meaningful learning. According to the Global Child Nutrition Foundation's 2024 Global Survey on school feeding, Malaysia's programmes currently reach only 25% of primary and a mere 1% of secondary students. This limited coverage is not just a nutritional gap; it is a missed strategic lever for advancing educational equity.
Initiatives like Super Sarapan, which delivered over 170,000 meals to B40 students in 2023, show what's possible. These efforts must be scaled nationally, to ensure that no child learns on an empty stomach.
Academic support is equally vital. Students who fall behind need structured remedial programmes led by capable, motivated teachers. These educators deserve fair compensation and recognition. NGOs like Teach For Malaysia and Yayasan Amir are already filling critical gaps. Their work should be formalised through long-term partnerships with schools, aligned with national goals.
Access to education cannot be reduced to physical entry alone; it must also guarantee the right to meaningful learning. And at the centre of this guarantee is the teacher. No matter how well-resourced a school may be, the quality of instruction ultimately determines whether students engage, progress and succeed.
In this sense, access and teaching excellence are inseparable. Malaysia already has strong foundations for continuous professional development but to fully realise their potential, these efforts must be embedded not just into policy, but also into the everyday school life.
If we are serious about access, we must be serious about support. True access means students can remain and thrive in school. It means building a system that supports, nourishes and empowers every child.
PROF DR SIVABALA NAIDU
and DR AMANPREET KAUR
Faculty of Social Sciences
Quest International University