From Access to Post-access Concerns: Rethinking Inclusion in Education Through Children’s Everyday School Attendance in Rural Malaysia

Abstract

Drawing on 10 weeks of research in four primarily ethnic minority villages in insular Malaysia, this paper analyses the factors and relations underpinning the frequency of children’s school attendance. Using a range of participatory methods has illuminated children’s active role in co-shaping the outcome of everyday decision-making process concerning school attendance. The findings suggest our understanding of exclusion and inclusion in relation to primary education in developing countries needs to go beyond the current focus on children’s school enrolment, drop-out, and adult-centred discussions on school attendance, towards an appreciation of the relational dynamics underpinning frequency of attendance and children’s active role in co-shaping their inclusion in or exclusion from school.