MIRI: The escalating Covid-19 infections have shifted the country’s education process, from conventional classroom to online teaching.
For parents, such approach is lauded as they viewed that the learning process of their children must continue.
“Covid-19 has forced not only Malaysia, but the rest of the world, to adopt online teaching, but the government must ensure children in the rural areas are not left behind in this process,” said Yanti Samion.
She said not all areas had good Internet coverage, and rural areas were not excluded.
“I have two boys using online teaching methods with their teachers…despite having some difficulties, both of them are exploring new things,” she said.
Yanti further added that the advantage of online teaching was students had flexible time and more convenient in the learning process.
“Sometimes they face Internet disconnection while in the process, and it’s very stressful when the Internet is slow,” she explained.
She said both her boys missed classroom teaching so much.
“We are hoping that the Covid-19 will go away soon, so that we can live our lives as normal,” she said.
Sharing a similar sentiment is 63-year-old Jenah Saib.
She felt sorry for those children and parents who have no gadgets for the purpose or could not afford to have Internet coverage.
“For children in the urban, this would give them some advantages, but what about those in the rural areas?” she asked.
She added that some children might adopt the online teaching much easier than others, but some might face difficulties in focusing.
For Maznah Morshidi, her nieces and nephews were having trouble focusing in their studies while interacting with their teachers online.
“It is really difficult for them to concentrate while online with their teachers … most of the time, their mother or their father would sit next to them to ensure that they stay focused,” she said.
Meanwhile, for Iqbal Abdollah, a comprehensive approach needed to be enforced to ensure no students were left behind in the process.
“We welcome the government’s efforts to shift our learning method from a conventional classroom teaching to online, unfortunately while in the process, not all students gain the benefits,” he said.
Another parent, Caroline Siburat, observed that studying online during the movement control order (MCO) was the best way to keep children safe.
“But it will be good if the module can have interactive method in video format, for some school subjects that require demonstration, practical or reading with accurate pronunciation for the younger ones, if the MCO is going to be prolonged, even public examinations to be done online as well,” she said.
She added that perhaps it would be good to have a video conferencing or live streaming of classes.
“It’s best all students from junior primary to universities stay home during the MCO until the situation is really stable,” she said.
