SIBU: Children from slums who are deprived of education opportunity are given a beacon of hope at Destiny for Children Association Sibu (Destiny Centre).
The non-profit organisation operating at a house-turned-‘mini school’ at Hua Khiew Road here provides free classes for underprivileged children.
Centre chairman Tang Tiong Kin said there were 36 children aged between four and 13 attending classes there presently.
“Most of them are children who live at Hua Khiew Road and Tiong Hua Road,” he said.
“Their families migrated from rural homes in search of better life but have ended up getting low paid jobs and living in poor conditions in the town.
“They rented a room in a house without proper facilities.
“Some of the children are stateless, school drop-outs, raised by single parent and have never attended school.
“Their parents or caretakers either ignore the importance of education, have no financial means to send their children to school or have trouble to enrol them in schools because of their stateless status,” he said when met by reporters recently.
Tang started Destiny Centre with deputy chairman Hii Kim Siong and treasurer Anna Ho in June 2012 at a shophouse at Chiew Siik Hiong Road with 12 children for a start.
He said the children were those wandering the streets in the slums especially during school hours.
“We asked to see their parents and after the parents had given their consent, we gathered the children to study at the centre.
“We believe in holistic education to reach out to the underprivileged children to break negative mindsets and bring fruitful transformation,” he said.
He said at Destiny Centre, the children were taught subjects such as Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mathematics and drawing.
The teachers adopted the Montessori teaching method for pre-schoolers and those without pre-school education, he said.
“Besides pre-school, there are two special classes. One is for school drop-outs and those who have never attended school and another is for those who cannot cope in school,” he said.
Speaking of their achievements, Tang said there were two children who dropped out of school last year.
“We found them and put them in our two special classes for few months. Now they are back in regular school and they still come to the centre after school,” he said.
Destiny Centre moved to Hua Khiew Road last year to accommodate the growing number of children.
There are three full-time teachers, two teacher trainees and four volunteers at the centre.