PLOS ONE Undocumented: An examination of legal identity and education provision for children in Malaysia Fig 3. Timeline of the evolution of education policies for non-citizens children in Malaysia. Sourced from [71–76]. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263404.g003 evolution of education policies for non-citizen children in Malaysia and Table 2 for the types of education access available for these children. Stateless and undocumented children in Malaysia. We found that children with a claim to Malaysian citizenship have more educational opportunities compared to other undocumented children with minimal access to public education (See Fig 2). Children with a claim to Malaysian citizenship but with irregularities in documentation have limited entitlements to public education through the Zero Reject Policy and Sekolah Bimbingan Jalinan Kasih. Zero Reject Policy. The Zero Reject Policy was initiated by the Ministry of Education in 2019, to facilitate undocumented children’s entry into public schools [73]. This policy is in line with the aims of the national education policy to ensure that all children have access to education. Nevertheless, only certain undocumented children can gain entry to public schools. The eligibility criteria for public school entry are as follows: 1) non-citizens adopted by Malaysian citizens; 2) illegitimate children of a Malaysian father and a nonMalaysian mother; 3) non-citizen children whose parents who are also non-citizens (parents are foreign embassy staff, parents working at a government agency with a valid work permit, parents are permanent residents in Malaysia, foreign children sent to continue education in Malaysia as part of a government exchange). According to the Zero Reject Policy, undocumented children are allowed to enrol in public schools with proof of guardianship (at least one Malaysian parent) and the understanding that parents or guardians would submit all identity documents within 2-years from the start of schooling (in the process of applying for Malaysian citizenship). According to our interviewees, the Zero Reject Policy has a limited reach, as it is only applicable to a small subset of undocumented children with a claim towards Malaysian citizenship. "Technically, efforts have been taken to ensure that if you are a native population and the issue is merely documentation issues—You are a citizen, it’s just that you don’t have the documentation to prove it maybe. The treatment is not the same if you are a migrant worker’s child without documentation–the treatment is different. Yeah, in that circumstance the chances of going to government schools are just very remote—It is not possible." RES-04 PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263404 February 2, 2022 12 / 26