ONLY one or two in 10 rural schoolchildren are following online classes as low internet penetration and strapped finances hamper the others amid the extended movement-control order (MCO) for schools.

In contrast, pupil involvement is high in semi-urban and urban areas where there is better internet connectivity and a higher proportion of middle- and upper-income families, said teachers and parent-teacher groups.

In urban centres in Kuching and the Klang Valley, participation can reach 70%, depending on the subject and the teacher, but B40 families still face challenges learning online.

Teachers are also encountering problems in virtual education, as they have to juggle parental duties with lessons while overcoming their own lack of electronic equipment and internet access at home.

The lack of participation is also due to the fact that the lessons are deemed supplementary by the Education Ministry, taking into account their inaccessibility to impoverished and rural pupils.

“Pupils and teachers are still considered to be ‘on break’ because of the MCO,” said a school administrator in Kuala Lumpur.

“The rationale for online classes is that while pupils are ‘on break’, they can still continue to learn and do not just waste their time during the MCO.

“But these lessons are not meant to replace physical classroom lessons. These materials are actually similar to homework,” said the administrator.

Teachers and administrators spoke to The Malaysian Insight on condition of anonymity as civil servants are forbidden from talking to the media without the Education Ministry’s approval.

Online lessons are conducted primarily through the Google Classroom app where teachers craft lessons, assign exercises and give quizzes by way of posts in the virtual-learning facility.

Each teacher is given a weekly schedule of when to post the modules.

“But participation is also up to the individual teacher because not all have enough equipment or a stable internet. Some create WhatsApp groups with the parents and pass to them the instructions for their children to read their textbooks.”

Pupils can access the materials posted by the teachers at any time.

“Some pupils may have to share a handphone or laptop with their siblings,” said a secondary school teacher of history in Terengganu.

“So, they can’t all log in at the same time because their sibling may need to use it first for their lessons and then their parent may need (to use the device). So, they wait their turn. The scheduled time is only a recommendation.”

Completed homework and quizzes are uploaded to the virtual classroom and teachers can track log-ins and participation.

Novelty wears off

The MCO was imposed on March 18 to break the transmission of the coronavirus, which has to date infected 6,779 and killed 111. It is scheduled to end on June 9.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Friday announced a loosening of restrictions for commerce and industry today but said learning institutions will remain shut until further notice.

In the initial phase of the MCO from March 18 to 31, online lesson participation was 40-50%, even among rural pupils, said the Terengganu teacher.

“They were initially excited by the concept. But as the weeks went by, teachers saw participation drop to 20% and it is now about 10% in my class.

“Recently, when I checked, only one of my pupils was logged in.”

A teacher in neighbouring Kelantan said pupils in B40 households are unable to participate in his cyber classes.

“The majority of pupils in my school are from fishing and farming communities and they might have only one parent who has a smartphone.

“So, the phone has to be shared among many children,” said the English teacher.

At last count, only 10% of his pupils still regularly log in for his lessons.

Most of the low-income families also use pre-paid mobile services which they top up when they can afford to, he said.

“As the MCO was extended, parents would have had to cut back on internet access for their kids.

“In the early phase, they probably had enough money for data top-ups because they thought the MCO would only last two weeks. But it has now been six weeks and they need to save their money for other things such as food.”

A teacher in Kuching said about half of his 50 pupils regularly log in for lessons. For some quizzes, he gets a 70% participation rate.

“The internet connection is still bad in parts of Sarawak so not everyone can access my classes, but I’m in a semi-urban area,” said the science teacher.

“I also open my classes to students in other parts of Malaysia and that is why I’ve had a lot of students on some topics and quizzes.”

The KL school administrator calculated that a majority of students in his school have no problems following online lessons.

“But there may be about 40% of them from B40 families living in public housing units who can’t log in because their parents can’t afford stable internet service or they live in cramped flats with no places to study.

“Just because a family lives in an urban area, it does not mean they’re well off.” – May 14, 2020.