TEACHERS, especially those teaching in rural and remote schools in Sabah, are face with challenges of ensuring smooth online learning for their students during the movement control order (MCO) period.

This is because some of their students, especially those living on islands and plantations, do not have efficient internet access, apart from not having computers, smartphones or other mobile devices that can support e-learning sessions.

Teacher Aslina Ali, 33, who teaches Geography at a secondary school about 10km from Semporna, said some of her students who are staying in plantations took three to four days to submit their assignments.

In accommodating the constraints facing her students to learn, Aslina said she gave her students a week to complete their assignments.

“I also seek help from students in the class WhatsApp group for them to inform their friends who do not have smartphones or access to the Internet on the school assignments.”

Aslina said she would also encounter issues on low internet access when uploading assignments for more than 200 students under her charge.

However, she tried to conduct online classes using applications such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Google Classroom.

Sharing Aslina’s problems is Nur Faraheka Abdullah, 28, an English teacher at a primary school in a plantation in Lahad Datu, about 89km from town.

“What I did was to call the students concerned to tell them about their school assignments based on their text books. I’ll check their work when the school reopens.”

Another teacher, Siti Aminah Amir, 28, who teaches Islamic Education at a primary school in the interiors of Kunak, said her students’ involvement in online sessions is very limited because not all of them have internet access.

Siti Aminah said she uses SMS to give assignments to her students using their textbooks as reference. – Bernama, April 25, 2020.