Meet Bosco, a refugee from Myanmar & the principal at Lautu Education Centre.
A refugee school in Kuala Lumpur: 7 teachers, 7 tiny classrooms & 100 excited students trying to sit at a desk for a whole day. Hear from a refugee school principal, written by WRS volunteer Kaye Cameron.
Bosco has a personality that you are immediately attracted to. He smiles, is positive and very welcoming to students, teachers and visitors at the refugee school where he is principal in Kuala Lumpur.
Asylum seekers and refugees who flee their homeland due to persecution or military action have no ‘rights’ in Malaysia to employment, health care or education. Bosco is principal of an unofficial school supported by the Lautu church. The Lautu (or Lutuv) people are from 18 villages in the south of Chin state, Myanmar. The majority are Christian and have faced many years of religious persecution from the Buddhist majority military and government.
These unofficial schools are usually located in poorer neighbourhoods where the rent is cheaper, and many have entrances off the street up steep concrete steps. At the top of the stairs you are greeted by a steel gate and CCTV. Refugees in Malaysia, even though holding documentation and an identity card from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are not safe from raids by the Immigration Department or arrest by the police. The Malaysian government and UNHCR have an uneasy agreement, and particularly leading up to elections the numbers of refugees detained increases.
Whilst schools and places of worship haven’t been raided yet, we are aware of community groups, market stalls, factories and high-rise housing units being targeted.
Once through the steel gate, the school opens out into seven tiny (by Australian standards) classrooms. There are 100 students and 7 teachers, including Bosco and a cook. The classrooms are centred around a court yard which could provide precious, safe open space for the students however the neighbours who overlook the space complain repeatedly about the noise so the students have to stay inside. Bosco said the children imagine they are in a field when let outside. You can’t upset the neighbours when you are in a country illegally.
Bosco has been at the school for one and a half years. He was previously a popular teacher at a nearby refugee school for 5 years, though before his appointment as a teacher he repaired cars in a workshop and did wiring for new buildings. He came to Malaysia alone when he was 23 years old.
“Teacher, teacher!” call his students who need help, especially with their English classes. Bosco loves teaching and is committed to helping his students become more confident and avoiding the fate of some of his previous students who have quit school and due to lack of English work at menial jobs. He said he ‘feels pain’ when he sees these former students and hopes his current students will continue to study and work in higher paid (although still illegal) jobs.
Singing and playing the guitar, meeting up with friends and sport are some of the ways Bosco relaxes. He would love to resettle to a third country like the US where his sister lives. During Covid when the schools were closed Bosco had no income so gave up his humble one room rental in a shared unit. Since then he has lived at the school. As I looked around the school I couldn’t help but wonder…where?
Bosco said that he doesn’t have a bedroom. When he gets tired he just ‘lays down anywhere on a mat’. For dinner he will eat any food left over from the student’s lunches. ‘If there is any left…’
His possessions are kept in a cupboard. The positive is that he provides 24 hour security, the negative being no time away from the challenges of the school and students.
Bosco worries about his students and the future of the school. They provide everything including lunch for the 100 students but can only ask a small fee from the families, who are already struggling. Rent, internet, staff salaries, food, stationery, electricity, workbooks are some of the monthly expenses. At WRS, we have been able to give some financial support to the school and also provide volunteer teachers and teacher training.
We wish Bosco, his students and the many other refugee teachers and students in Kuala Lumpur well as they end their educational year with Christmas celebrations.