Education Matters: A Sustainable Education Framework for Children Living in Residential Care in Malaysia

Children living in residential care may experience educational vulnerability due to documentation barriers, interrupted schooling, diversity of individual educational needs, insufficient educational support, concerns regarding wellbeing, and difficulties with adulting. The provision of various kinds of educational support in Malaysia occurs through education and child-welfare policies, yet these measures operate within different systems and do not provide the children with a cohesive educational path. Thus, the current conceptual paper analyzes Malaysian policies and educational systems, considers the main barriers of education faced by children in residential care, and develops the EDUCATION MATTERS Framework that represents a sustainable, inclusive, and future-ready education model. Using a conceptual synthesis method, the present study reviews the literature on residential care education, inclusive education, lifelong learning, future-ready education, and transitions to adulthood, as well as relevant Malaysian education and child-welfare systems. Several connected dimensions that affect educational experience are identified, which include access to education, continuity, individual development, inclusion, relationships, wellbeing, empowerment, employability, and transitions to adulthood. In consideration of the results, the EDUCATION MATTERS Framework is offered as a holistic conceptual framework with two connected dimensions of EDUCATION and MATTERS. This framework sees education as a continuous developmental pathway that starts with access and inclusion and proceeds to learning, readiness for the future, and sustainable transition to adulthood. The framework also focuses on cooperation between schools, residential care, governmental organizations, teachers, researchers, and non-governmental organizations. The current paper concludes that the education of children in residential care should go far beyond just access to school and include continuity, inclusion, wellbeing, empowerment, employability, and readiness for lifelong learning. Though the empirical validation of the framework is necessary, it provides conceptual grounds for further research.

Education Matters; Residential care; Sustainable education; Inclusive education; Future readiness.

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