Education disruption: An ongoing problem that requires solution

IT has been a tumultuous journey for school-goers in Malaysia since the COVID-19 pandemic brought learning to a screeching halt, thus affecting formal classroom learning for approximately 4.9 million students in kindergarten, primary and secondary schools nationwide.

The on and off, status of schools have drawn plenty of drawn plenty of ire and criticism from parents. As the number of school-related cases and clusters began to climb, some had even voiced their concerns online over whether it was still safe for their children to attend physical classes.

Most recently, Education Minister Datuk Mohd Radzi Md Jidin announced that school sessions will be held online for two weeks after the Hari Raya holidays through the home-based teaching and learning method (PdPR).

This is the best course of action to avoid the risk of infections in school after the school holidays to celebrate Aidilfitri. However, the fact remains that the disorganised and unstructured nature of the PdPR leaves much to be desired.

In the past, much have been said about the PdPR, from the less-than-comprehensive manual issued by the ministry of education (MOE) that had put a lot of extra burden on teachers to the fact that there are still countless students who have no appropriate gadgets to use for virtual learning.

In these circumstances, students who come from well-to-do families who can afford the necessary gadgets will survive, while the less unfortunate ones will continue to be left behind.

In schools, teachers can monitor their students’ discipline and focus on their studies, but when classes are conducted online, none of these is possible.

Worse, the distraction of online games, internet accessibility, and the inconsistency of the social media platforms and mediums used to conduct PdPR classes are only some of the stumbling blocks that has hindered the PdPR from achieving its full potential.

With these in mind, it is certainly high time that MOE gets creative in resolving these issues and more importantly, to improve the effectiveness in the teaching and learning process. Pandemic or not, education must not be something to be taken lightly. – May 7, 2021

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