207
stationery and food. With all these education enrichment programmes, there had
been significant improvements in overall school attendance and enrolment of the
Orang Asli children. Several Orang Asli children have furthered their studies to
tertiary level. In 2008, there were only 63 Orang Asli children entering public universities. However, this number increased to 370 in 2010 and 408 in 2011
(JAKOA 2011).
The enrolment of the Orang Asli children in SMK Jenagor in Hulu Terengganu,
which was the nearest secondary school to the natives’ village are shown in Table 4.
Generally, from 2004 to 2015, this table indicates that the number of enrolment had
increased, especially for Form 1 in 2012 to Form 3 in 2015. However, none of the
students had finished Form 5. They would normally stop attending school between
Form 1 and Form 2. Therefore, the education level of the Orang Asli in Kampung
Sungai Berua was still low and needed to improve in line with the country’s
development.
The children could not even acquire basic education, such as reading, writing and
counting. In-depth interviews with JAKOA officers revealed that this issue would
become a barrier for the Orang Asli villagers when communicating with outsiders.
The lack of education made them easy targets of exploitation by the middlemen
buying their forest products. A similar finding by Kamarudin and Ngah (2007)
stated that it was the middlemen who dictated the price for the Orang Asli’s products, which were much lower compared to the market price. The high illiteracy rate
among the Orang Asli had caused them to become ignorant of the market pricing.
Furthermore, without good education, the Orang Asli did not stand a chance of getting better jobs.
Health
Secondary data recorded a number of diseases afflicting the villagers in Kampung
Sungai Berua, Hulu Terengganu. However, Table 5 indicates an overall improvement in healthcare among the Orang Asli villagers. The number of diseases had
decreased from 2011 to 2015. There had been a drastic decrease in viral hepatitis
and leptospirosis. It was also important to note that tuberculosis, syphilis, pertussis,
dysentery and dengue were detected in the community in 2014. Although the data
Table 4 Number of enrolled Orang Asli children in secondary school (SMK Jenagor)
Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Total
Form 1 6
3
10
8
0
0
5
0
2
15
14
19
82
Form 2 0
6
1
4
0
0
0
0
2
14
12
15
54
Form 3 0
0
4
0
0
8
0
1
2
12
11
14
52
Form 4 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Form 5 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Total 6
9
15
12
0
8
5
1
6
41
37
48
188
Socio-economic Development and Sustainable Livelihood of the Orang Asli
stationery and food. With all these education enrichment programmes, there had
been significant improvements in overall school attendance and enrolment of the
Orang Asli children. Several Orang Asli children have furthered their studies to
tertiary level. In 2008, there were only 63 Orang Asli children entering public universities. However, this number increased to 370 in 2010 and 408 in 2011
(JAKOA 2011).
The enrolment of the Orang Asli children in SMK Jenagor in Hulu Terengganu,
which was the nearest secondary school to the natives’ village are shown in Table 4.
Generally, from 2004 to 2015, this table indicates that the number of enrolment had
increased, especially for Form 1 in 2012 to Form 3 in 2015. However, none of the
students had finished Form 5. They would normally stop attending school between
Form 1 and Form 2. Therefore, the education level of the Orang Asli in Kampung
Sungai Berua was still low and needed to improve in line with the country’s
development.
The children could not even acquire basic education, such as reading, writing and
counting. In-depth interviews with JAKOA officers revealed that this issue would
become a barrier for the Orang Asli villagers when communicating with outsiders.
The lack of education made them easy targets of exploitation by the middlemen
buying their forest products. A similar finding by Kamarudin and Ngah (2007)
stated that it was the middlemen who dictated the price for the Orang Asli’s products, which were much lower compared to the market price. The high illiteracy rate
among the Orang Asli had caused them to become ignorant of the market pricing.
Furthermore, without good education, the Orang Asli did not stand a chance of getting better jobs.
Health
Secondary data recorded a number of diseases afflicting the villagers in Kampung
Sungai Berua, Hulu Terengganu. However, Table 5 indicates an overall improvement in healthcare among the Orang Asli villagers. The number of diseases had
decreased from 2011 to 2015. There had been a drastic decrease in viral hepatitis
and leptospirosis. It was also important to note that tuberculosis, syphilis, pertussis,
dysentery and dengue were detected in the community in 2014. Although the data
Table 4 Number of enrolled Orang Asli children in secondary school (SMK Jenagor)
Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Total
Form 1 6
3
10
8
0
0
5
0
2
15
14
19
82
Form 2 0
6
1
4
0
0
0
0
2
14
12
15
54
Form 3 0
0
4
0
0
8
0
1
2
12
11
14
52
Form 4 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Form 5 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Total 6
9
15
12
0
8
5
1
6
41
37
48
188
Socio-economic Development and Sustainable Livelihood of the Orang Asli