Bridging Borders through STEM: An International University-Community Service Model for Marginalised Indonesian Children in Malaysia

Children of Indonesian migrant families in Malaysia frequently sit outside the formal education system, and many grow up with little exposure to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). This gap in early STEM exposure narrows their later options and reinforces the disadvantage their families already face. This paper reports on an international community-service collaboration between Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia and Universitas Wiraraja (UNIJA), Indonesia, delivered under the SULAM and Sanggar Belajar schemes with the support of the Embassy of Indonesia in Malaysia. This paper situates the intervention within the wider literature on migrant-child education, STEM equity pedagogy, service-learning and participatory action research which leads to detailed explanation of programme design, outcomes and implications. Forty marginalised children across two communities in Selangor (Teluk Panglima Garang and Jalan Kebun) took part in a phased programme combining content co-creation, a training-of-trainers webinar, and hands-on reading-counting-writing (3M/CaLisTung) activities delivered by 49 undergraduate students and six academic staff from both universities. Caretaker feedback, embassy observation and student reflection converge on three outcomes: improved engagement with foundational numeracy and literacy tasks, stronger cross-cultural understanding through paired Malaysian and Indonesian cultural activities, and measurable growth in participating students' civic and professional competencies. The paper closes with implications for how higher-education institutions might scale such short-cycle, cross-border service-learning models, and identifies the methodological limitations that being the notably absence of a control group and of longitudinal follow-up that should guide future study designs. The programme's alignment with Sustainable Development Goals 1, 4 and 10 is discussed as a basis for replication by other institutions working with under-served migrant populations.

International University-Community Service

1. Bringle, R. G., & Hatcher, J. A. (1995). A service-learning curriculum for faculty. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 2(1), 112-122. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Bybee, R. W. (2010). What is STEM education? Science, 329 (5995), pp.996. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1194998 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Crinis, V., & Parasuraman, B. (2016). Employment conditions of foreign workers in the Malaysian electronics industry. Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 21(2), 1-15. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Devadason, E. S., & Meng, C. W. (2014). Policies and laws regulating migrant workers in Malaysia: A critical appraisal. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 44(1), 19-35. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2013.826420 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Eyler, J., & Giles, D. E. (1999). Where's the learning in service-learning? Jossey-Bass. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Jacoby, B. (2015). Service-learning essentials: Questions, answers, and lessons learned. Jossey-Bass. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Kemmis, S., McTaggart, R., & Nixon, R. (2014). The action research planner: Doing critical participatory action research. Springer. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Mukminin, A., & Habibi, A. (2021). Promoting access and success for disadvantaged students in Indonesian basic education: Social justice in education. In Research anthology on instilling social justice in the classroom (pp. 976-986). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-7706-6.ch056 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. National Research Council. (2011). Successful K-12 STEM education: Identifying effective approaches in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. National Academies Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2019). Research methods for business students (8th ed.). Pearson Education Limited. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Suardika, K., Rusmin, L., Rohmana, Anse, L., Harijaty, E., & Masri, F. A. (2020). Marginalized primary education on ethnic Bajo in Saponda Village, Konawe Regency: Limited access to education & educators. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(6), 2737-2748. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2020.080659 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Suryani, E., Prasetyo. K, & Haryanto, H. (2023). The implementation of STEM approach (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) on science learning at elementary school. Proceedings Series on Social Sciences & Humanities, 12, 315-322. https://doi.org/10.30595/pssh.v12i.814 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Taena, L., Arfa, Hasniah, Aso, L., Basri, A. M., & DM, M. (2023). Forms of educational marginalization practices in Tanailandu Village, Mawasangka Sub-District of Central Buton Regency, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. International Journal of Social Science and Human Research, 6(7), 4022-4026. https://doi.org/10.47191/ijsshr/v6-i7-18 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Tarigan, G. R. T., & Putri, M. (2022). Meningkatkan semangat belajar dan kemampuan calistung anak usia dini di panti asuhan Mercy Clement Indonesia. ABDISOSHUM: Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat Bidang Sosial dan Humaniora. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. UNICEF Malaysia. (2018). Children without: A study of urban refugee and migrant children's rights in Malaysia. UNICEF Malaysia. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Yuliani, S., & Yulianto. (2023). International community service activities (PkM) in Sekolah Indonesia Kuala Lumpur (SIKL). AJAD: Jurnal Pengabdian Kepada Masyarakat, 3(1), 46-50. https://doi.org/10.59431/ajad.v3i1.155 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

17. Zakeri, N. N., Hidayat, R., Mohd Sabri, N. A., Yaakub, N. F., Balachandran, K. S., & Azizan, N. I. (2022). Creative methods in STEM for secondary school students: Systematic literature review. Contemporary Mathematics and Science Education, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.30935/conmaths/12601 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• Assessment of the Role of Artificial Intelligence in Repositioning TVET for Economic Development in Nigeria
• Teachers’ Use of Assure Model Instructional Design on Learners’ Problem Solving Efficacy in Secondary Schools in Bungoma County, Kenya
• “E-Booksan Ang Kaalaman”: Development, Validation, and Utilization of Electronic Book in Academic Performance of Grade 9 Students in Social Studies
• Analyzing EFL University Students’ Academic Speaking Skills Through Self-Recorded Video Presentation
• Major Findings of The Study on Total Quality Management in Teachers’ Education Institutions (TEIs) In Assam – An Evaluative Study