THE Covid-19 crisis has made it harder fro children to acquire the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, or 3R, primary school teachers said.

They told The Malaysian Insight the problem was particilarly apparent among Standards 1 and 2 pupils.

This was because face-to-face teaching was not possible during the pandemic.

Mohd Khairul Izzuddin, 31, who teaches Standards 1 and 2 children in Dabong, Kelantan, said it was one of the biggest problems facing teachers today.

“The pupils’ basic 3R skills have dipped significantly since the pandemic.

“I’m teaching in a rural area and the process of teaching from home cannot be done effectively. Many of the the children lack internet connection and mobile devices,” he said.

Khairul said at least 30% of his class struggled with the 3Rs.

“Technically, if you’re in Standard 1, you should able to grasp these basic skills but that’s not what’s happening now.

“In fact, when school reopens, teachers will have to go back to square one to accommodate the pupils in this category.”

He said the Education Ministry had been consulted for recommendations on how to deal with the growing problem.

Khairul said the ministry could consider focusing on teaching the 3Rs instead of the various subjects.

“It’s pointless to teach the children other subjects when they can’t even read or write,” he said.

“If possible, the ministry should create a comprehensive module that is coordinated for use by all Malaysian teachers. The teaching process on Didik TV can be based on this module too,” he said.

The Malaysian Insight has reached out to the ministry for comment and is awaiting a response.

Since last year, schools have shut down multiple times due to Covid-19 outbreaks, forcing children to learn from home.

However, some teachers and pupils have been hindered by poor internet acess and unfamiliarity with cyber learning platforms. Lack of electronic devices with which to check in for virtual classes has also  been a problem for some of the poorer children.

These situations make a comprehensive learning experience from home impossible.

On July 17, the ministry announced that the virtual schooling will continue until August 31 this year after taking into account the current Covid-19 situation and following discussions with the Ministry of Health and the National Security Council.

The Ministry of Education has also decided that schools will be opened in stages from September 1 after taking into consideration the current vaccination rate nationwide.

Poor penmanship

Mohamad Muqhram Mazelan, 25, an English primary school teacher in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, said he had noticed that his Standards 1 and 3 pupils had poor 3R skills.

“They did pick up the skills during pre-school but they weren’t strengthened in the first year of primary school which is actually crucial,” he said, adding that more than 30% of pupils had the same problem.

“I teach English and I cover all the syllabus for phonics but still some of the students when being asked to read, are a bit slow,” he said adding that he has come up with a special class for students who cannot read properly.

Meanwhile, he said penmanship among Standard 1 pupils was very low since there was no activity on copying or tracing, as everything is online.

He said, while some can write and spell basic words, their penmanship was still very low.

Muqhram said the school had also brought the matter up with the Education Ministry, and agreed that the current module should be more focused on enhancing the 3R skills rather than school subjects.

Tutor Nur Diana Aneesa, 27, said since the pandemic began, she has encountered several students from Standard 2 to 4 who have difficulty reading and spelling.

Nur Diana, who tutors primary pupils in maths, Bahasa Malaysia and English, said most of the time, instead of teaching the children the syllabus, she ended up teaching them how to read, write and count.

She had to use flashcards in some of the lessons.

Nur Diana said the students won’t be able to progress in their studies if they did not not know the basics, which would frustrate them and could even cause them to drop out.

She said this was one of the main reasons why she disagreed that examinations should be abolished in secondary school.

“I disagreed with this move because then educators won’t be able to assess the students’ level of understanding,” she said.

Reprioritising education goals

The Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) told The Malaysian Insight that it was a concern that students were falling behind in their learning.

“It is definitely a concern that students are falling behind in their learning,” PAGE honorary secretary Tunku Munawirah said.

“Until a student is able to exercise the 3Rs, all educators would have failed them. Only then can educators proceed to achieve holistic education in line with the national education philosophy,” she said.

She said it was important that education goals be reprioritised to ensure the affected children did not lose interest in learning and drop out of school altogether.

“They need guidance, encouragement and support to keep learning, perhaps a Kumon-style list of required reading based on their current level of progressive basic mathematic will help,” she said.

“Teachers and parents would need to work together and devise a way to prescribe the learning that is specific to the child, and put aside the curriculum. Ensure that the basics are mastered or practiced to be mastered,” she said.

Henry Tan of the National Union of Teaching Profession said while they do not have statistics on the seriousness of this issue, he was certain that this has impacted all students, whether they have internet access or not.

He said online teaching could never replace face-to-face learning.

“The human touch will always help our students achieve more, but at the same time, we understand that there is no way our teachers and also teachers from other countries can ensure a high rate of learning the 3Rs when schools are constantly disrupted,” he said.

He said the pandemic has stifled the teaching and learning process and teachers must be prepared to make extra effort to ensure their charges learn the 3Rs when they return to school.

“This process may involve remedial work and also interventions, however, the time frame may not be so clear at the moment as we are still all doing learning from home (PdPR),” he said. – July 28, 2021.