EDUCATION has become a luxury for many lower income families as they are now forced to channel their financial resources into other more important things to survive amid the Covid-19 epidemic, educationists and elected representatives said.

They said with the epidemic running into its second year now, many households are unable to make ends meet and have to take their children out of school.

According to government data, in the first two months of this year, as many as 1,176 pupils across the country have dropped out due to the epidemic and difficulties in coping with online studies.

Of this figure, Selangor pupils accounted for 35.3%.

National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Wang Heng Suan told The Malaysian Insight that parents used to pay much attention to their children’s academic progress, but not anymore.

“Nowadays, what they care most are their lives. Secondly, their livelihood and only then, their children’s education,” he said.

“So, even if teachers report to parents that their children are absent from school, some parents will say that even putting food on the table is a problem now and that they are not sure what will happen tomorrow.”

He said unlike in the past when the dropout rate was high among Chinese or Indian pupils, it now involves all ethnic groups.

“Dropouts occur across all ethnic groups now, and family financial difficulty is the main reason,” he said.

“In particular, parents of pupils in the B40 group cannot afford to buy online learning equipment and pay for internet service,” he said.

Wang said the union is continuously working with schools to provide free mobile phones to poor pupils, hoping that it will reduce the problem.

“Due to the high demand, we can only give one phone to each family in need. Those who have three to four children will still face the problem of having enough equipment for online lessons,” he said.

“There are also many civil society groups providing these pupils with equipment so that they can attend the online classes. But we are hoping that the government can provide free internet service for them.”

Hulu Selangor parliamentarian June Leow pointed to the same problem in her constituency, saying her service centre has received more than 30 cases of pupils unable to pay for internet service for their online lessons.

She said the internet expenses are a long-term burden for families who have lost their income.

“If there are three school-going children in the family, it will definitely be a heavy burden,” she said.

“In addition, if the equipment is not enough, two children are then forced to drop out of school.”

She said schools and teachers are doing their best to ensure such pupils have proper access to lessons.

“I also try my best to help families in need in my constituency because learning is important,” she added.

Risk of losing a generation

Balakong rep Wong Siew Ki said the school dropout problem is worsening in her constituency as many pupils from middle-income families do not actively attend classes because they have to work to earn money.

“And with Covid-19, more pupils are dropping out of school to work, and I am not surprised,” she said.

She revealed that some parents need their children to help support the family.

Wong’s constituency is also seeing the same problems as elsewhere with parents struggling to provide their children with the necessary equipment for online classes.

“To put it simply, they don’t have phones, computers or internet connection,” she said.

To overcome this problem in Selangor, the state government is providing free internet service for families in need for at least one year to enable their children to access online lessons.

However, Wong said this is not an unlimited service but a basic one that will only help reduce the families’ burden.

She said society should now accept the dropout cases as being normal.

“Dropping out of school is unacceptable. The state government and state legislators have limited jurisdiction in the field of education, and this is not an individual case; it is a problem faced by Malaysia as a whole,” she said.

“If the Education Ministry does not take concrete measures now, in another 10 years, when these children enter the society, the entire generation of young people will be left behind in comparison with their peers in neighbouring countries.”

Shortcomings of online classes

Pupils across the country have been participating in online classes for more than a year now after schools were closed due to Covid-19.

NUTP’s Wang said online classes have many challenges as teachers and pupils cannot communicate effectively.

“Parents are also unable to supervise or guide their children in their studies due to work, and not every child is self-disciplined,” he said.

“Even if the internet equipment is sufficient, he may still be unable to cope with lessons because he cannot resist the temptation of online games and entertainment.

“Using the excuse of attending online lessons at home, some may carry out other activities such as playing online games and watching entertainment. These activities will greatly affect the children’s learning ability.”

He said it is important to re-educate parents on the importance of ensuring their children remain in the school system.

“During this trying period, parents are the people closest to their children. We need to tell the parents that dropping out of school is not the only option. We must correct their perception.” – September 6, 2021.