Every child has a right to education – including 'invisible' stateless children

A volunteer teacher teaching a group of stateless children at Sekolah Alternatif in Sabah. — Filepic/The Star

I began a diary project during the movement control order period and recently extended it with children aged seven to 14 at Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur.

They talked about what they wanted to be – a doctor, a fireman, a soldier, a nurse, an architect, a teacher – all while calling me “Teacher Dilla” just for the joy of it. The joy of having the opportunity to learn from a teacher (even though, in my case, I felt like I didn’t have much to offer to these children), the pride of wearing a school uniform even though they didn’t need to, the sense of normalcy doing what other children are doing.