THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES –
FOCUSING ON PRIMARY EDUCATION
22
TABLE 3: ENROLMENT OF PRIMARY STUDENTS
Year
Enrolment In Government
Schools15
Enrolment In Special
Education Programmes16
Percentage
%
2010
2,898,407
25,659
0.8%
2011
2,859,921
27,370
0.9%
2012
2,804,405
29,409
1.01%
2013
2,742,169
29,968
1.09%
2,698,883
28,658
1.06%
2014
17
151617
57. The enrolment of CWLD students in primary education is not reflective of the
number of CWLD who are registered with the Department of Social Welfare
(DSW). The record of the Ministry of Education shows that there are more
CWLD in primary schools than those registered with the DSW.
TABLE 4: DATA OF REGISTERED CWLD (AGE GROUP 7-12)18 WITH DSW
Year
Registered CWLD
2010
3796
2011
5613
2012
8856
58. Nonetheless, it is pertinent to stress that the registration of persons / children
with disabilities in Malaysia is voluntary. Some parents are reluctant to register
their child as “OKU” with the Department of Social Welfare for fear of social
stigmatization and seclusion. As such it is not possible to gauge the actual
percentage of CWLD who are not registered and who are not currently
enrolled in schools.
59. The Commission also understands that there is another set of data on
children with disabilities kept by the Ministry of Health. At the time of writing
this Report, it would appear there are three independent and separate
databases kept by three different agencies in Malaysia. The Commission is
of the opinion that immediate measures should be taken to reconcile these
data into one common database which could be shared by all agencies
and be subsequently be made available to other parties.
Source: Quick Facts 2013, 2012 and 2011 – Malaysia Educational Statistics by the Ministry of Education
Malaysia.
Source: Buku Data Pendidikan Khas 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010, Ministry of Education Malaysia. The
figure includes students with learning disabilities and dyslexic students.
17
Source: Quick Facts 2014 - Malaysia Educational Statistics by the Ministry of Education
Malaysia.
18
Information obtained from the Department of Social Welfare.
15
16