Individual Assignment:

Children’s Rights and Adult’s Responsibilities in Education

Name: Yew Kai Woon

Faculty of Education and Humanities, UNITAR

Madam Jayce Hue Chew Kuen

Topic Page

1 Introduction 3

2 Discussion on International and Malaysia standards of children’s rights

2.1 International standard of children’s rights 4

2.2 Malaysia standard of children’s rights 5

3 Application of International and the Malaysian Standards to ECE

3.1 Application of International Standard to ECE Curriculum 6

3.2 Application of Malaysian Standard to ECE Curriculum 8

4 Importance of ECE curriculum to support underprivileged children

International level 10

National Level 11

5 Conclusion 13

6 References 14
1. Introduction

Over the decade, research and studies have revealed that the early years are an important period when

learning and developmental changes are happening and can have a long-lasting influence on a child’s future. A

satisfactory early years education provides a strong foundation base for a child’s health, development and

lifelong learning. Children thrive well especially when they are in a secure, comfortable and positive relationship

with adults or caregivers. Thus, adults or policymakers who are in the early education line bear a great

responsibility to support children’s development and learning, to help them shape positive habits, behaviours and

health across their life course.

Many elements can affect a child’s development. Health, education, social-economic status, social

services, adequate nutrition, and a secure and nurturing parent-child relationship all play a part. To fulfil the

needs of children, every child and family deserves an enriched and supportive environment.

Families with young children need to have access to general health care, quality and affordable

education, and community support from society. Children who learn in a safe and secure environment with

nutrition, shelter, nurturing, stimulation and protection provided, enable them to learn and develop to their full

potential. High-quality child care and early education can furthermore improve a child’s learning and

developmental outcomes. Development areas such as cognitive, language, physical and social-emotional

domains need to be included in the holistic service delivery, to ensure children get a comprehensive

development. Regular observation from professionals or the community needs to be compiled over time to track

a child’s development progress. Last but not least, both the general and specific legal legislations need to be

enforced in early educations providers to give full protection to all children.

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2. Discussion on International and Malaysia standards of Children’s rights

2.1 International standard of children’s rights

In 1989, a historic commitment to the world’s children has made by adopting the United Nations

Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). It has been claimed as a landmark achievement for children's

rights by setting minimum standards to protect children in all capacities. By recognizing children's rights, the

convention declared that children are not an object attaches to their parents, rather, they are individuals with

their own right. Until they turn 18 years old, children are guaranteed to grow, play, learn, and develop. CRC

become the most widely advocated human rights treaty in history and has helped change children’s lives around

the world.

In 1996, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopts the Worst Forms of Child Labour

Convention, which prohibited child labour in any form of work to ensure children’s health, safety or morals are

well protected. In 2000, the United Nations adopts two Optional Protocols to the 1989 Convention on the Rights

of the Child, to prevent children from experiencing armed conflict, sexual exploitation, child abuse and child

selling. Whereas in 2006, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), together with

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), promotes programmes and legislation designed to end child marriage

in the least developed countries.

The core fundamental principles of children’s rights are based on the United Nations namely the right to

non-discrimination, right to survival and development, the best interest of the child, and respect for the view of

the child. Children are given equality of opportunities despite their race, sex, language, religion, ethnicity,

poverty, disability or other status. Children shall be granted the right to assess health care, nutrition, and

education, to prevent illness and neglect. Children shall be free from violence, sexual abuse, child labour and

child marriage problems. Young children who can express themselves will be given participation right in

decisions that affect them. Overall, the international legal framework acknowledges the elemental human dignity

of all children and the urgency of assuring their well-being and development.

CRC has provided a wide range of coverage on children’s rights, from civil and political, to economic,

social and cultural, all at once. The UN has enlightened local governments to alter their legislation and programs,

and to invest more in children so that the children have enough nutrition and health care for them to develop.

There are stronger precautions established to protect children from violence and exploitation.

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 2.2 Malaysia standard of children’s rights

To fulfil the commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Malaysia

has legislated the Child Act 2001 (CA 2001) to protect children from abuse and difficult circumstances. CA 2001

has increased the punishment and maximum imprisonment of convicts for crimes against children. In 2009, the

Malaysian government has approved the National Child Protection Policy (NCPP) which focuses on increasing

awareness and consciousness in the community about the importance of child protection and encouraging smart

collaborations among the society.

In 2011, the Malaysian Government also signed the two Optional Protocols to the CRC, Optional

Protocol 1 covers child selling, child prostitution and child pornography, and Optional Protocol 2 covers the

involvement of children in armed conflict. Other than that, Malaysia Government has legislated the Child Care

Centre Act 1984 and Child Care Centre Regulations 2012 (CCCR 2012) to set minimum measurements and

criteria that are needed to enhance the quality of child care centres. Child care centres can be monitored

through the registration, control and inspection progress. In general, Malaysia's legislation on children's rights

has covered most of the core principles of children’s rights which are non-discrimination, the right to survival and

development, the best interest of the child, and respect for the view of the child.

However, systematic and transparent monitoring and reporting are still very weak in Malaysia.

Discrimination against the girl child remains an issue in Malaysia. From 2013 to 2018, there were 444

applications for underaged marriages in Terengganu state, more than 200 approved applications were below 15

years old, and up to 10 approved applications are only 13 years old (Sisters in Islam, 2018). In 2021, Unicef

Malaysia noted that child marriages during the Covid-19 pandemic in Malaysia have immensely increased,

nevertheless the Women’s Ministry has claimed that Malaysia has no plans to ban child marriages (Keertan

Ayamany, 2022). It is also notable that Malaysia is a place for child trafficking. Other than that, many irregular

migrant or refugees children in Malaysia encounter multiple forms of discrimination and do not have the access

to local health care and education services. Additional, according to Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 in Malaysia,

persons below 21 years old are still prohibited from participating in peaceful assemblies to voice out freedom.

All the above facts show that there is a gap in Malaysia that needs to be urgently addressed. Efforts in

implementing the law and legislation to protect the Children's right is still largely in need. The Malaysian

government also have to monitor and assess the efficacy of legal legislation implemented to see if that benefits

the children.

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3. Application of International and the Malaysian Standards to ECE Curriculum

3.1 Application of International Standard to ECE Curriculum

Children’s rights in early childhood education (ECE) have provided a new angle on how we view

and treat young children. In part, UNICEF and UNESCO have provided a conceptual framework to provide

the context scope of children’s rights in education. The conceptual framework that is needed to fulfil

children's needs is the right to access to education, quality education and respect for human rights in

education.

Box 1: Conceptual framework of UNICEF/UNESCO ‘A Human Right-Based Approach to Education for All’

(taken from Lansdown el al., 2007)

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 Around the world, ECE has included actions to ban corporal punishment. Instead, educators are

expected to listen and respect the children and take their views into account. Equality opportunities are to

be provided for all children to participate in school learning activities, communities or student councils.

At the same time, the ECE curriculum designed should always promote the core values such as

collaboration, respect for diversity, and empathy for the disadvantages. In some countries, they even put

human rights and democratic citizenship education under a topic on their own, and resources are widely

available and easy to access for parents and educators. Throughout the learning, children can able to gain

social understanding which increases the levels of collaboration, respect, and empathy. For instance, the

children became more interested in rights-related issues such as peace, war, injustice, and hunger.

Besides, a healthy and safe environment should be in place. Adults have to take the responsibility

to ensure safe access for children. Both the general and specific legal requirements must be complied with

by the early year's education providers, including immunisation, identifying food and the environment,

reporting and dealing with accidents, to support children’s learning in a safe and secure setting.

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 3.2 Application of Malaysian Standard to ECE Curriculum

In Malaysia, various policies and legislations have been progressively developed to enhance the

early years of education quality and to provide care and protection for all children. The Child Care Centre

Act 1984 was legislated to provide for the enrollment, management and assessment of child care centres.

The early education operators should always be mindful of the requirement of health and security

legislation. Whereas the Child Care Centre Regulations 1985 (CCCR) has lowered the adult to child ratio

and requires the child care operators to prepare a balanced diet menu and daily activities that are suitable

for the children. These regulations undeniable benefit the children by enhancing the quality of childcare

centres, significantly in the areas of nutrition, environment, and physical and mental development.

Thereafter, early education enrolment has been increased in Malaysia and the government is aimed to

achieve the goal by ensuring universal primary education and secondary education.

However, irregular or refugees children in Malaysia without a birth certificate are not able to get

access to health and education services. Children with disabilities are also facing difficulties because of the

absence of infrastructure, programs and qualified educators. Another fact is that Malaysia is a multi-ethnic

and multi-cultural country, and ethnic tension has affected government funding, ethnic community support,

resources and future educational opportunities. To provide equality and equity education for all Malaysian,

the Ministry of Education needs to establish a national education system that contains elements from

different ethnic groups and can fulfil different cultural needs.

Another confusing issue in Malaysia is that preschool education and childcare are under different

Ministries. Childcare centres (0–4 years old) are under Jabatan Kebajikan Malaysia (JKM) and Preschools

(4–6 years old) are under the Ministry of Education (MOE), operators need to refer to different rules and

regulations set by the different departments which increase the confusion of the early year's education

providers. To assure the best interest of children, preschools education and childcare should be placed

under one department so that early years education standards can be integrated and be more centralized.

Other than that, being a Muslim majority country, the canning and whipping of male children is a

legal disciplinary measure under criminal law and Syariah law in Malaysia with its intention to shame the

person in wrong. Corporal punishment is also culturally acceptable for parents to punish their children with

a light rattan cane if their children are misbehaviour. In research conducted in 2011, there are still numbers

of students reported being slapped in the face, pinched, hit on the back of the head, having their ears
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pulled, verbally abused, and being forced to do repetitive physical activity, such as squats while crossing

their arms and holding their ear-lobes (Child Rights Coalition Malaysia, 2012).

There is still a long way to go to include Children’s rights in the Malaysia ECE curriculum.

Sometimes, religious morality or belief has many dimensions and it intersects with other human rights.

There is an urgent need to strengthen the overall mindset, culture, values and social institutions. Protecting

a child involves whole community members including teachers, parents, peers and society. These adults

serve as role models to children, thus, a supportive adult should not indicate abusive or violent manners.

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4. Importance of ECE curriculum to support underprivileged children

4.1 International level

Equity and inclusion are inextricably linked to a rights-based approach. For UNICEF, this means

focussing on children excluded on the basis of gender, children with disabilities, the poorest, ethnic and

linguistic minorities, migrant and displaced children, and children affected by emergencies. Equity and

inclusion will be central to UNICEF advocacy, policy dialogue, technical assistance and direct programming

in education

As the social-economic status and family influence can have a critical impact on children's

education outcomes (McCain, M.N., Mustard, J.F., McCuaig, K., 2011), equality of educational opportunity

is an important step to changing the development and learning outcomes of children from low-income

backgrounds. Using schools as an integrated service platform, health and care, nutrition, social policy, and

security for underprivileged children can be guaranteed.

UNICEF also provide a system to address bullying and violence, especially in supporting the

children under violence, sexual violence, child marriage, child labour, and civil registration issues. The

creation of a safe and secure, healthy and comfortable environment helps to nurture children’s physical and

mental health. Efforts have been made to handle security issues facing children. Both girls and boys enjoy

equal opportunity for education, the school are free from violence and drugs, and school facilities are

designed to meet learning and development needs.

With the support and facilitation, children will then get to develop and nourish themselves.

Cognitive abilities as well as the socio-emotional skills, the physical and mental health of underprivileged

children can be improved, and crime and social problems within the poverty family can potentially be

reduced as well.

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 4.2 National level

Over the years, there are growing numbers of Orang Asli children enrolment in preschool

education. Starting from 1992, Jabatan Kemajuan Masyarakat (KEMAS) has set up more kindergartens to

fulfil the needs of Orang Asli children. In urban areas that are further away and do not have access to

schools, NGOs or local communities will help to build some sort of preschool education to help local

children gain knowledge and develop their social skills. The increasing numbers in the early years

enrolments are proof of successful awareness and equality in educational opportunities. Availability and

accessibility for education will be the next to be enforced in the upcoming time.

By preparing children from low poverty line and rural areas for early years and primary education,

and providing healthcare and nutritional services to them, one country can narrow the inequalities in

educational outcomes. In Malaysia, children’s economic standard of living improved greatly between 1989

and 2007. Child poverty has dropped during this period. From 2005 to 2011, Child Aid has also significantly

increased to fulfil the children’s right to social security. (UNICEF, 2013)

Table 1: Malaysian Children living poverty by ethnic grop in 1989 and 2007.

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 Table 2: Malaysian Chilhood immunisation coverage in 2011.

Through holistic development, children will be able to demonstrate positive attitudes towards

inclusion and diversity. There is still room for the Malaysian government to embark in collaboration with

society members in supporting children’s learning and development. More action can be taken to raise

awareness on the right to education, promote the value of education for both girls and boys, ensure

education benefits for disabled children, and end all forms of bullying and violence.

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5. Conclusion

The early years of education are an important period to support the learning and development of

children. To ensure all children are properly nurtured in their early years, all the policymakers, especially the

stakeholders from government sectors, need to take urgent actions to make ECCE universally accessible to

children of all backgrounds, regardless of their ethnic, economic, or social status, to ensure that no child is left

behind.

Undeniable, there are challenges in bringing policy alignment to support the application of Children’s

rights in the ECE Curriculum. Governments are encouraged to examine and enhance the education approach to

fully meet the children’s rights. The government should subsidise associations to invent visible resources and aid

to support children’s rights and other social issues. Comprehensive services such as immunisation, health

screening, meals, medical and social referrals, and community outreach need to be provided. Educators should

be equipped to better understand the nature of children’s rights and the roles of duty-bearers. Parents who are

regarded as the first teacher in educating their children need to be trained with parenting knowledge to nurture

children. The most challenging one is that the social-cultural context needs to be transformed so that children

are in full protection.

In addition, there is a need to establish internal case management and documentation systems to

effectively monitor and document the rights of children in the communities you work with, including any violations

of children’s rights, to help deliver the best quality services in every public or private early year's institution.

Quality services will ultimately lead to quality care and education for each child.

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6. References

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Azmawaty Mohamad Nor, Usharani Balasingam, Shanina Sharatol Ahmad Shah. (2019). Corporal punishment in

malaysian public schools: legal and educational perspectives.IIUM Law Journal Vol. 27 N0. 2

Child Rights Coalition Malaysia. (2012, Dec) Status Report on Children’s Right in Malaysia. Retrieved from

https://archive.crin.org/en/docs/Report_on_Childrens_Rights_.pdf

Craissati, D., Devi Banerjee, U., King, L., Lansdown, G., & Smith, A. (Eds.) (2007). A Human Rights Based

Approach to Education For All. UNICEF. Retrieved from

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Curriculum Development Centre (2007) Early Childhood Care and Education Policy Implementation Review.

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Keertan Ayamany. (2022, Mar 22). Women’s Ministry says no plans to ban child marriages, better to change

society’s attitudes through public education. Malay Mail.Retrieved from

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Kumaraswamy, Narasappa & Othman, Azizah. (2011). Corporal Punishment Study: A Case in Malaysia.

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McCain, M.N., Mustard, J.F., McCuaig, K. (2011). Early Years Study 3: Making Decisions, Taking Action. Toronto:

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https://www.academia.edu/17129326/Early_Years_Study_3_Making_Decisions_Taking_Action

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Sisters in Islam (SIS). (2018, Dec 20). Terengganu child marriage numbers alarming. Malaysiakini. Retrieved

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UNICEF. (2013). Profile of children in Malaysia: Implementation of children right with equality. Retrieved from

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