fathers—one that has allowed the survival of their communities in the wake of violent attacks and encroachments on them in the past. Also, when Orang Asli children choose to remain at home during the harvest season, or during the fruit season—two most important periods in the lifecycle of traditional Orang Asli societies—they and their parents are chided for placing a low importance on education. But how many Malay students go to school during Hari Raya, or Chinese students during the Chinese New Year? Furthermore, for families living in poverty, the fruit season and the harvesting period are about the only times when food is aplenty. Still, this practise (of skipping school to benefit from the bounty of nature) has generally been on the decline in most Orang Asli communities, yet it is still being cited as a reason for their ‘poor attitude’ towards the importance of education. Cultural factors also come into play in areas such as curriculum content, relevance of subjects taught, indigenisation of teaching modules, medium of instruction, and acknowledgement of indigenous traditions and systems. The point to be stressed is that: on entering the national mainstream school system, the Orang Asli child is at an immediate cultural disadvantage compared to the other communities. Gaps in Attendance For Orang Asli schoolchildren who are academically weak to start with, missing out on classes for a stretch of time can push them further back academically such that it will be difficult for them to catch up with their nonOrang Asli classmates. This is especially so since most Orang Asli children do not have the benefit of additional tuition classes or can depend on their parents for such tuition. And once they realize that they are too far behind in their studies, and without any chance of catching up with the rest, the probability of them dropping out of school is very high. ORANG ASLI – RIGHTS, PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS 59