Can Children Cope With More Online Classes Ask Education Groups

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Schoolchildren are to undergo home-based learning and online classes for two weeks after the Hari Raya break. (Bernama pic)PETALING JAYA: As schoolchildren return to online classes for the next two weeks, education groups say that pupils from the B40 low-income group will be left behind in their studies if the government fails to intervene.
Mak Chee Kin, chairman of the Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education, told FMT that more B40 students were beginning to lose interest in their studies, as poor internet connectivity made it difficult to stay focused.
“Parents play a very important role here to monitor the progress of their children, irrespective of economic standing,” he said, adding that students from upper-income households also risked falling behind if they lacked self-discipline.
Mak called for papers at this year’s Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination to be set solely based on the content in textbooks.
Mak Chee Kin.“With questions set based on textbooks, serious students who study the textbooks will be able to score even without guidance from their teachers,” he said.
“Otherwise, postpone the exams until students have fulfilled the minimum learning hours physically and are more prepared.”
Students are currently required to participate in home-based teaching and learning sessions for two weeks after the Hari Raya holidays.
Following this, schools in Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu will continue with their term break from May 28 to June 12. Perlis, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Pahang, Sabah, Sarawak, Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya will do the same from May 29 to June 13.
The government has abolished the Standard Six UPSR examination, and suspended the PT3 exam this year. However, the SPM exam remains.
The president of the Association of Science, Technology and Innovation, Mohamed Yunus Yasin, said it was unlikely physical classes could take place even after the term break in June, given the high number of daily Covid-19 infections.
He said many B40 students were already struggling to keep up with their studies since last year.
What next after scrapping UPSR?
Mohamed Yunus Yasin.“The virus is here to stay. Not many students will be able to catch up after losing out on months of classes, let alone do well. We need to realise this and come up with a practical plan,” he said.
Yunus urged the education ministry to review the current education system and establish a long-term plan to get students, especially SPM candidates, back on track.
He also called on the ministry to reveal its plans for Standard Six children, saying many teachers were still left wondering on how to assess their students after the UPSR was scrapped.
“There are over 450,000 teachers in the education ministry, there must be a way to solve this. After one year, it’s impossible not to come up with a better solution for the children.”
Beyond this, Yunus said the ministry could consider adopting the German education system, which allows students to choose their streams at a younger age.
Currently, Malaysian students can only decide on their streams in Form Four, two years before they finish school. - FMT

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