KUCHING: The Sarawak Bumiputera Teachers Union (KGBS) has urged the Education Ministry (MOE) to prioritise education television programmes (TV Pendidikan or TVP) for Primary One students to ensure that they can learn from home more effectively.
Its president Ahmad Malie said this particular group of students needed such push because they are not yet capable or skilled in following the home-based learning (PdPR) method independently.
“Primary One is the most critical stage in a student’s learning system. That is why in the context of PdPR, Primary One students must master the minimum skills of reading, writing and counting, in preparation for them to move to a higher level.
“With TVP, it will be able to reduce the dependence of these students on their parents when learning at home. However, this does not mean that the suggestion implied for MOE to neglect other students,” he said in a statement today (Jan 23).
He was referring to MOE director general Datuk Dr Habibah Abdul Rahim who announced on Friday that the ministry was planning to increase cooperation with several other television stations to increase the duration of TVP programmes.
“The TVP programme was an alternative medium for teachers and students who have problems with internet access during the implementation of PdPR. With this programme, it can at least help teachers and students to interact about the topic of the lesson.
“This is a great effort to facilitate PdPR method because TV broadcasts are more accessible in most locations in the state especially in rural areas and interior.
“Apart from TVP being in the form of creative audio visual that can nurture the students’ interest in learning, the programme also would not burden the parents or guardians on the financial cost because almost all homes own a TV set compared to cellular devices,” he added.
Ahmad also suggested for the TVP programmes to be broadcasted daily and to have reruns so that the students can repeat the same TV programmes to further understand the learning topic.
