People
in Malaysia, especially Muslims, are expected to keep sexual abstinence until marriage.
In Islamic tradition, if people break the rule and get pregnant, they are not
even allowed to take abortion. Consequently, the shame of
giving birth out of wedlock and the lack of anywhere to turn for help cause
numerous pregnant young girls in Malaysia to take the only solution they see
before them: to abandon their babies. According to the website of Royal
Malaysia Police in 2010, from 2005 to 2010, there were 407 unwanted babies be
dumped in Malaysia.
In
light of the stigma of pre-marital sex and the horrible amount of abandoned
babies in Malaysia, the chief minister of Malacca, Mohammed Ali
Rustam, set up the first school for pregnant teenagers in Malaysia, Sekolah
Harapan, or School of Hope,
in September 2010.
The idea of the school is to provide education for pregnant girls,
and they need not stop their education due to pregnancy. They will be shielded
from the gossip and shame they would experience in their original schools and
will carry on their schooling in privacy until they give birth.
The school not only provides students
normal courses, it also gives pregnant girls dormitory to live which named Rumah
Harapan, or Home of Hope. In
School of Hope and Home of Hope, students receive religious and
maternity healthcare counseling which mainly encourage those pregnant
girls to face social perspectives and to deliver their children with great bravery.
They are also provided with medical check-ups and skill training such as
cooking and baby-caring courses for the preparation of being a mother and a
wife in the near future.
The abovementioned treatments,
tuition, fee of dorm and even students’ deliveries are all provided by the Malacca Islamic Affairs
Department.
In a state where many Muslims reside, the chief minister of Malacca, Mohammed
Ali Rustam, bravely takes the initiatives to provide a shelter for pregnant girls.
The school of hope is not merely a hope for the mothers and the babies; it is
also a hope for the whole country, the sprouting consciousness for the rooted
Islamic traditions little by little.
The school of hope is a great
support for pregnant girls. If they can receive thoughtful care, nonstop
education and most important of all, a shield from the outside gossip, they
will have greater willingness and bravery to deliver their embryos and to take
care of them.
Before, nobody tells pregnant girls
how to deal with pregnancy. But now, in the School of Hope, somebody provide
counseling, skill training and a refuge for them. Pregnant girls then find fire
of hope to light up lives of them and their embryos once again.
References:
1.PDRM. (2010). Baby
Dumping Statistic. Retrieved December 14,2013 from Official Portal of Royal
Malaysia Police : http://www.rmp.gov.my/
2.Tawfiq,
I. (2010). A School of Hope?.
Retrieved November 25, 2013 from OnIslam .net: http://www.onislam.net/english/family/gender-issues/education-f
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