DIDIKTV, the government’s new terrestrial education TV channel, can only be a supplementary tool and not a replacement for online learning, said education groups. 

They said it was crucial to have direct teacher-student interaction for students to get better guidance on core subjects.

The National Union of the Teaching Profession Malaysia (NUTP) secretary-general Harry Tan said DidikTV was just one of various ways a student can get education at home, but it was not enough. 

“It should be noted that a student still needs a teacher to teach and explain the content of DidikTV.

“It (Didik TV) cannot be a one directional learning tool. What if the students got questions on the subject?” he told The Malaysian Insight. 

DidikTV was launched by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday, to help students nationwide who are forced to undergo lessons at home due to Covid-19 closures.

Muhyiddin said DidikTV’s programmes would be based on the Education Ministry’s syllabus, education news from preschool to Form 6, edutainment programmes and student-generated content.

The channel is also to help students who don’t have access to the internet or devices for virtual classes.

Tan said DidikTV was not the solution for those who don’t have internet connectivity. 

He said there were many questions on the feasibility of DidikTV as a primary teaching tool, such as whether students have the discipline to watch the dedicated channel the whole day.

“What if the students have questions or problems? What if they have siblings who are on different education levels?

“How can teachers assess the achievement of their students in the near future? How can teachers get feedback on the subjects they are teaching?”

He also questioned if parents will be monitoring their children as they watch television the whole day. 

“How do the management of DidikTV know the popularity of a programme and if it is not popular, will they create a new one?”

Tan said they could only hope that DidikTV was the best for those who do not have access to their teachers.

“The important message is that DidikTV must be dynamic and must be managed to overcome problems that may arise, such as broadcast time or popularity of a programme.”

Teachers still important

Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (Page) chairman Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said DidikTV was better than not learning at all for those who do not have devices and connectivity.

“It also serves as a supplemental platform to online learning.

“It seems that it is for use during the movement control order (MCO) and because of school closure.

“Online learning is more interactive as students are able to interact with their teachers. However, nothing beats in-class, face-to-face learning.”

She said teachers still had a role.

“Teachers should continue to facilitate students and not allow the television to take over their responsibilities of teaching and educating.

“DidikTV should also have daily or weekly programme information, if not, parents are forced to buy NST, Berita Harian or Harian Metro to know more information on programme times, and which becomes an added cost.”

Azimah said she suggests that an intermittent crawler be added at the base of programme information slide on the hour.

She said this would allow students to know what to expect and to be able to plan their day for terrestrial TV or programme.

Mixed reactions on DidikTV

Nurul Azila Ismail, 43, a freelance tutor was thankful that the government introduced a dedicated education channel.

Azila has six children aged between 20 and 11 years old. 

Her two older children are in college while the other four are in forms two and three, with the younger children in standards four and five.

“My children used to watch the education shows on Astro, but then I cancelled the subscription as it was too expensive.

“Now that there is DidikTV, they can fill their time by watching the various classes on the channel and not nonsense,” she said.

Between her four children and herself, Azila said she did not have enough devices for all of them.

“I give priority to my older children who are in secondary school. Once they are done with their online classes, only then the younger kids will have access to the devices.

“So while waiting, I turn on the education channels for them. This serves as a backup and revision for their online classes and helps them understand a subject better.

“Not only does it help my kids, it also helps me to better understand the syllabus and guide them when they don’t understand something,” Azila said.

Although this was a good initiative by the government, Azila said more needed to be done in terms of education to ensure that children were not left behind.

Another parent, Norazirah Zaim, 45, a legal secretary, said education channels have not done much to help her children’s schooling.

“My children are 13 and 14 years old. When the movement control order (MCO) started and physical classes were cancelled, the teachers asked us to let the children watch OkeyTV, where certain subjects were being taught and broadcasted.

“I found that it didn’t help my children. They were not interested as the method of teaching was very boring and not engaging. All they did was read the textbooks, I don’t have to watch TV for that.

“My children preferred watching Astro’s Tutor TV. They found it more engaging as the lessons used examples that they could understand,” she said. 

Norazirah said her children did not spend a dedicated number of hours watching these channels, but now that there was Didik TV, she will most likely make them watch it. – February 18, 2021.