Lack of documentation 14. Despite the right of every child to legal identity, UNICEF estimates approximately 166 million children – or a quarter of the children born in the world today - have no legal document proving their existence12. Stateless children are amongst those often deprived of birth certificates and other identification documents which are usually essential to secure school enrolment, thereby directly impacting their ability to access education. There is a clear nexus between lack of documentation and the denial of education, despite guarantees in national legal frameworks guaranteeing education for all. 15. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan guarantees free and compulsory education to all children aged five to sixteen years13, yet 22.8 million children between the age of 5-16 are out of school (almost half of the total population in this age group).14 Pakistan is home to several ethnic minorities including Biharis, Bengalis and Rohingya, many of whom were born in Pakistan and whose ancestors have resided there for generations. Despite being born in Pakistan, which provides for unconditional jus soli in its nationality law, many children born into these ethnic minorities are stateless or at risk of statelessness due to lack of documentation and procedural obstacles to acquire nationality. For these children, the prospect of acquiring documentation such as a Child Registration Certificate or Juvenile Cards which prove citizenship and are compulsory for school registration remains a challenge and presents a significant barrier for them to access public education. 16. In Malaysia, public education is governed by the Education Act 1996 (Act 550) and is generally reserved for Malaysian nationals or at the very least, children with one Malaysian parent. According to UNHCR, Malaysia has a population of at least 10,000 stateless people in Western Malaysia alone15, and a further unknown number of stateless people reside in Eastern Malaysia. Research undertaken by PLOS One revealed a complex set of government policies applied to undocumented and stateless children in Malaysia.16 Most undocumented and stateless children in Malaysia must rely on informal education provided by alternative or community learning centres that typically lack standardised curricula, resources, and accreditation for education progression beyond primary levels. Stateless Rohingya children in Peninsular Malaysia and the Bajau Laut children in Sabah are amongst the most marginalised and are forced to rely on alternative learning centres not recognised or regulated by the state. Implications for stateless children excluded from education 17. Education is considered an empowering right which plays a fundamental role in alleviating poverty for the most marginalised groups. Access to good quality education has a transformative effect on the trajectory of a child’s life, and for stateless children, represents the difference between the potential to live a fulfilling, self-sufficient life, rather than one trapped in a cycle of discrimination and deprivation. Here, the submission presents a synthesis of discussions and conclusions from ISI’s Roundtable on Education convened in September 2022 with civil society partners working with stateless communities across different national contexts. 12 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), available at Birth registration | UNICEF Article 25-A of the Constitution of Pakistan, Constitution of Pakistan (1973; in English). 14 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), available at Education | UNICEF Pakistan 15 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), available at UNHCR - Ending Statelessness in Malaysia 16 Loganathan T, Chan ZX, Hassan F, Ong ZL, Majid HA (2022) Undocumented: An examination of legal identity and education provision for children in Malaysia. PLoS ONE 17(2): e0263404. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0263404 13 4