TEACHERS and parents at a school in Rawang, Selangor, took action when the government said schools would start online lessons during the movement-control order (MCO).

Within two days, the teachers, administrators and parents had set up WhatsApp groups to share assignments and reading lists for students from Form One to Form Five, said Mohamed Saufi Shafie, a parent involved in the school’s parent-teacher group.

However, Saufi’s school was the exception to the more than 900 schools in Selangor, the majority of which, he said, have weak parent-teacher networks.

“My friends in other parts of Selangor said their schools had no clue what to do when it came to online classes.

“They didn’t set up WhatsApp groups to share learning materials,” said Saufi, who heads the government-approved Selangor chapter of the National Parents-Community Action Group.

“When parents asked about setting up online lessons, the teachers said they didn’t know what to do and it was too late to start anyway, so never mind, no online classes.”

Such stories, he said, reflected the complacent attitude of many teachers and administrators that is ruining national schools.

The haphazard and inconsistent quality of online learning during the MCO reflects the deep cracks in Malaysia’s flawed school system, he said.

Other parent-teacher groups feel the same way, saying it exposes how well-intentioned policies, such as the National Education Blueprint 2013-2025, are not being carried out at the ground level.

Even as the system’s weaknesses are exposed, others said the online class initiative highlights the teachers, administrators and schools rising to the occasion, and who should be recognised for their hard work.

“One of the most persistent problems of the school system is the quality of teachers, where many are just content with being just average or below-average so as to draw a salary,” said Ramesh Pillai a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) educator.

Average teachers and like-minded administrators tend to pull down their colleagues who want to excel, he said.

Online lessons allow the good teachers to shine as they have the freedom to craft and structure their own modules.

Students and the public can then judge for themselves which teachers are the most passionate about their work.

“As teachers have the option of making their online lessons open to students all over Malaysia, the best ones will definitely get lots of participants,” said Ramesh, who is in his son’s parent-teacher association.

“Average and below-average teachers will have to buck up because if they don’t, then it will be plain for everyone to see what kind of teachers they are.”

Overcoming limitations

Malaysian schools have been shut for seven weeks since the MCO was imposed on March 18 to break the transmission of the coronavirus, which has infected 6,779 and killed 111.

To encourage students to continue studying, the ministry released guidelines on supplementary online lessons that teachers and schools can prepare.

These lessons use the Google Classroom app, where teachers upload assignments and quizzes into a virtual classroom that are then accessed by their students.

The virtual classrooms allow teachers to monitor who are participating in the assignments and those who are not.

Teachers have also used the WhatsApp app to send reading assignments and exercises to parents, who then pass them on to their children.

Due to limitations in internet connectivity and inability of low-income parents to provide enough electronic devices for their children, the online lessons are strictly voluntary.

Teacher and administrators told The Malaysian Insight that participation rates in the online lessons are low for rural and low-income families.

Even in urban areas, where internet connectivity is strong, students who live in public housing units also find it difficult to study because of their cramped homes, said Wan Zaidi Wan Jaafar, who heads a parent-teacher-community group in Kuala Lumpur called 3PIP2KL.

“Which is why we proposed to the ministry that in public housing flats that are green zones, children be allowed to study in the community halls or surau,” said Wan Zaidi.

Meanwhile, Saufi believes that limitations such as poor internet connectivity could be overcome if schools have a better working relationship with parents and their surrounding communities.

“The community action groups are the ninth thrust of the National Education Blueprint and all schools should have them because it gets parents more actively involved in their children’s education instead of just leaving the burden to schools.”

In his school, teachers pass on reading assignments and homework through WhatsApp, which does not take a lot internet data, to parents.

“The parents will then help teachers plan out schedules for their children to do these assignments offline, using books and stationery that the students already have on hand.”

He said other schools are unable to implement such a system because they have not cultivated strong ties with parents.

“There are teachers and principals who only see parents as cash cows but who don’t want them to be involved with their children’s studies.” – May 14, 2020.