ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of Pusat Didikan Komuniti (PDK) or Community Learning Centres for the Orang Asli, the Indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia. PDKs are community-initiated and managed alternative schools providing pre-school education and after-school support for the Orang Asli students. Some also are set up as full alternative schools, serving remote villages without access to government schools. This chapter also examines the motivation and challenges faced by Orang Asli educators, the majority of them women, in setting up and sustaining the PDKs. The chapter finds that the PDKs play a vital role for the Orang Asli communities in providing education opportunities as well as strengthening Indigenous identity. The community-led learning centers serve as important sites of Indigenous resurgence tied to the goals of strengthening Indigenous identity and upholding their rights to self-determination. Orang Asli women play an important role in Indigenous resurgence making the link between education and Indigenous identity.
