Chapter 1 - Report of the Education and Public Relations Group (ii) Clean water supply A number of schools and hostels still use spring water as their source of supply, even though the issue had been raised in the Commission’s Annual Report of 2011 and letters have been sent to the MOE. (iii) Children not in school Settlements like Pos Gop, Pos Hau and Pos Belatim in Gua Musang, Kelantan, can only be reached via a rough logging track. The journey takes 5-6 hours using 4WD vehicles. Each settlement has about 300-400 people, of whom 35-40 are between the ages of 6 and 12. The nearest school is about 5-6 hours away by road. As such, children as young as six have to stay in hostels if they attend school. The denial of the children’s right to live with their parents goes against Article 9 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which states: ‘Children have the right to live with their parents unless this is deemed to be incompatible with the child’s best interests.’ Most of the children do not go to school even though some have been registered. In one settlement, the Commission found about 35 children who are no longer in primary school because their parents are not willing to part with them. The children themselves are not interested in school. Many parents would prefer the Government to set up Level One schools (Year 1-3) in or near their settlements, so that they can keep the children at home. About 20 settlements are in need of schools. Schools in Pos Gop and Pos Hau that were managed by the Department of Orang Asli Affairs were closed when the MOE took over responsibility for the education of the Orang Asli in 1996. (iv) Attitude of principals and teachers The Commission has received complaints about the attitude of staff, especially in interior areas. Teachers are often late for school or classes, or do not attend at all; some leave for the weekend as early as 9am on Fridays, leaving the children in the care of school guards; and several are alleged to have used abusive language in disciplining the children. Parents have also complained that children in Years 4-6 cannot read and write even though they attend school every day. (v) Trust fund for poor students Parents complained to the Commission about the administration of financial aid meant for students in need. Some said they only received the money in June or July. In some cases, the money was not disbursed to schools eligible to receive assistance. In others, the school administrators were said to have deducted money to pay for school visits and tuition fees. • Sekolah Agama Rakyat (SAR) The Commission visited 32 such schools in Selangor, Pahang and Perak between January and October. The visits followed the Commission’s investigation into the death of an eight-year-old student in a school in Baling, Kedah. SAR are managed by bodies such as the State Religious Affairs Department, Malaysian Islamic Development Department, State Religious Affairs Council, MOE, NGOs, private companies and individuals. 28