Sbjk Students Prove Street Children Can Also Soar To Greater Heights

The lack of identification documents that cruelly keeps street children shackled to the dark alleys of the capital continues to be the main barrier preventing this community from soaring higher to escape a bleak life.

The academic achievements of two street children who are now pursuing higher education at public universities serve as a testament that there is light and hope for their future.

BANGI,  Feb 12 (Bernama) -- They obtained excellent results in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) exams which paved the way to gaining admission to any public institution of higher learning of their choice. 

But their enthusiasm to liberate themselves from the chains of poverty and escape the city's dark alleys was abruptly dampened when the online application forms asked for identification documents.

21-year-old Puteri Nur Arissa Mohd Noor, a former student at Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih (SBJK) in Chow Kit, found herself on the brink of giving up.

Little did she anticipate that the persistent challenge plaguing the street community—lack of identification documents—would become a formidable barrier to her aspirations of becoming an educator.

Not having an identity card almost derailed Puteri Nur Arissa's goal of pursuing higher education.

However, hope for this fourth of five siblings was revived after SBJK and the Education Ministry stepped in to assist her in pursuing a degree at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) on Sept 30 last year.

"Alhamdulillah, I am grateful for all these opportunities... The path to (gaining knowledge) was difficult right from PT3 (Form Three Assessment, SPM) and STPM until entering UKM.

"I was driven to continue pursuing my ambitions. All these achievements are not for me but it is to thank everyone who helped me, especially SBJK whom I see as my family," she told Bernama.

She expressed hope that her identity document would be sorted out soon and wished that her achievement would inspire other street children to persevere and nurture dreams for a better life.

Another street child who managed to transform her destiny, Puteri Umira Abdul Razak, 21, likened her life to that of a refugee, constantly living in fear of authorities due to the lack of identification documents until 2022. 

"Alhamdulillah everything is now complete... with my birth certificate and MyKad, I can move about freely.

"I truly appreciate everyone's help, especially SBJK who allowed me to study even without documents at the time," said Puteri Umira, who obtained her identification documents while studying at Kolej Tingkatan Enam Pudu Jaya, Cheras in 2022.

The fourth of five siblings, she is now pursuing a degree in Malay Language Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, UKM, and wants to become an educator to help alleviate the plight of street children, just like Puteri Nur Arissa. 

Commenting on SBJK's students' progress to higher education, Principal Zamzuri Abdullah highlighted that since its founding in 2013, three students entered universities, two advanced to Form Six, two became entrepreneurs, and others received training at community colleges and also became kindergarten teachers.

SBJK students showed commendable improvement, with the school's SPM exam results rising from 67 percent to 82 percent over the years.

Notably, all eight SBJK candidates who sat for the exam in 2022 successfully obtained SPM certificates.

This underscores the potential for success within the community when provided equal educational opportunities, including access to identity documents.

-- BERNAMA