OPPOSITION leaders urged the Education Ministry (MOE) to revamp and reform its home-based teaching and learning (PDPR) method as Malaysia would undergo full lockdown starting June 1.
“Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has announced a total lockdown from June 1 until 14 but we have yet to resolve all issues plaguing the PDPR system until today.
“Teachers still lack Internet facilities, inconducive teaching and learning environment, working with syllabus which doesn’t fit the PDPR system, ineffective TV Pendidikan and many others.
“And can someone tell us what happened to the 150,000 laptops promised to students from the B40 group?” asked the Pakatan Harapan Education Committee, in a statement.
The committee has been pushing MOE to embark on various reforms since the start of the pandemic, to ensure students do not miss out on their education while keeping abreast to the challenges ahead.
However, MOE seems to be dragging its feet on the matter, including controversies on the “period spot checks” allegations levelled at several boarding schools.
Touching on the matter, the committee implored the ministry to:
- Be transparent on the post-lockdown education scenario so teachers, parents and students can use the school break session for early preparation.
- Hasten vaccination for all teachers, not prioritising elderly educationists alone as recommended by the committee various times.
- Provide “one-off” incentive to teachers who have or will be using their own funds during the movement control order to purchase additional data and other facilities to aid PDPR.
- Speed up the delivery of 150,000 laptops as promised to students from the B40 community.
The committee stressed: “The minister and his two deputies must be pro-active in this situation as their decisions will affect the lives and future of over five million students for decades to come.” – May 30, 2021.
