Assignment 2 (News 5)

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"I WANT TO BE A TEACHER"

By Siti Nur Athirah

Kuala Lumpur, Dec 20 - For 15 year old Jane, the thought of being able to return to school is an almost impossible dream. With her mother dead and her unemployed, fending for the family rests on her.

"I want to be happy. I just want to be a normal child. I want to go to school. I want to play with my friends. Can you help me? Please can you help me?" This is Jane's plea.

Wearing a tattered tracksuit top, Jane rocks her crying sister in her pram, embarrassed as she tidies herself up, trying to hide her broken shoes beneath papers littering the ground. Jane and her three-year-old sister are up early, helping their father get ready to look for work before searching for food before sunrise.

"I am a clever girl. When I was in school I knew all the answer. I did all my homework and my teacher, said I was good. I want to be a teacher." Standing up straight and bragging, Jane said her teacher told her that when she "big" she could be a teacher.

"When I am a teacher I will make sure that all children go to school even the naughty ones because school is good and all children must go to school," she said.

Prevented from attending school for the last three years because her birth registration documents were destroyed in a fire, Jane is now the "head" of her household.

"I don't want to be here. I don't want to do this. I want to go back to my school and I miss playing with my friends. I want to be normal and happy." she added.

But her life does not allow a carefree passage into adulthood. Her responsibilities are huge, unbearable to witness. She has to help her father keep the family together. Her task includes scavenging for food and looking after her younger sister while her father searches for work during the day. 

                                                                          not a real picture

At night, she prepares supper and puts her sister to sleep, keeping an eye on her in case she cries for her mother. Her life is too painful for a 15-year-old. But then again, this is no ordinary teenager

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