KUCHING: Parents have applauded the government’s initiative to bring TV-based classes to students so that they do not miss out their learning during the movement control order (MCO).
TV Pendidikan (Educational TV) programme, an initiative by the Ministry of Education (MoE), was aired on Monday on TV Okey, one of Radio Televisyen Malaysia’s (RTM) channels.
The ministry said for starters, the programme would run for two hours daily, from 9am to 10am and 1pm to 2pm during the implementation of the MCO.
“The TV Pendidikan programme is introduced to enable pupils to gain access to learning materials through alternative platforms, especially during the MCO,” it said.
The ministry also stated TV Pendidikan programme, introduced in collaboration with the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, was an addition to the Eduweb TV which is currently implemented by MoE via web streaming.
“Under this collaboration, MoE will provide educational programmes to be broadcast by RTM, therefore, pupils who are without Internet access will still be able to follow the teaching and learning process at home through television,” it said.
New Sarawak Tribune reached out to several parents about the initiative.
Housewife Freda Sharmaine Agoh, 31, said that the initiative by the ministry was creative.
However, she pointed out that not everyone had access to online learning classes as some might not have laptops or supportive devices or even stable internet access.
“It could be effective but parents have to be involved in the learning process and supervise their children,” she said.
Kindergarten teacher Halinda Aishah, 29, said parents must guide their children through the TV programme for the lessons to be effective.
“It will be more convenient if the ministry and RTM can disclose earlier the subjects or teaching chapters that the students will be studying that day. Then the students can get ready for the topic,” she added.
Halinda also pointed out that sometimes, the children could get bored if they were on their own. Hence, parents’ supervision during the programme was vital to stop them from changing to other channels.
“Parents should also continue to guide and teach their children even after the programme ended so that the learning process is ongoing,” she said.
Executive secretary Nadia Shaferi, 32, said although it was a good effort by the ministry to ensure that children did not miss any academic classes, its effectiveness depended on whether the children understood what was taught on the channel.
“Sometimes, online lessons or TV programmes can be quite hard to understand compared to classroom lessons.
“My son recently had his first online class with his teacher and classmates and he said it was complicated due to the environment and condition of the connection.
“He prefers direct lessons from me or my husband,” she said.
Nadia also hoped that the TV programme would be made easier for children to understand.
Tuition teacher Abang Abdul Rahzim, 33, pointed out that the effectiveness of the education TV programme depended on the students’ determination to follow or understand it.
“Before the MCO, I heard some students expressing their doubts about the effectiveness of online classes.
“It is indeed a great initiative by the ministry and the government but it is not good if parents and students are aware of the TV programme but never get the chance to watch it,” he added.
Razim also suggested that the ministry and RTM set up a learning schedule for the programme.
