Harry Tan, secretary-general of the National Union of the Teaching Profession, appealed to the government to review its alleged decision to abolish the policy, saying every child was innocent and needed to be educated.
“No child should be left behind,” he said in an interview with FMT.
“We must put humanity at the forefront and not go back on our march towards the status of a developed country.”
Wan Ya Shin, who is social policy research chief at the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), lauded the zero-reject policy as an inclusive approach that would guarantee access to education for undocumented and special needs children.
“The government should ensure the zero-reject policy is enforced so that these vulnerable children would not be left out of the education system.
“The issue of undocumented children also needs to be addressed,” she told FMT.
The Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) said all children should be afforded the right to education in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Speaking to FMT, PAGE secretary Tunku Munawirah Putra said ensuring that everyone could get an education would be a step towards building social mobility and combating poverty.
She called for reform of the education ministry’s bureaucracy, accusing it of keeping pupils out of schools.
She said the government should adhere to the UDHR and the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.
Former education minister Maszlee Malik recently questioned the government whether it had abolished the zero-reject policy.
He raised the question after it was reported that an eight-year-old girl in Kelantan was forced to withdraw from school because her birth certificate did not recognise her as Malaysian.
“Does the change of government also mean the education of vulnerable children should be taken away?”
PH’s policy guaranteed that children with special needs and those categorised as “undocumented” would be given access to education in public schools.
FMT has contacted the education ministry for confirmation on whether the policy had been suspended or abolished and is waiting for a response.