Student Hardship 20km Round Trip To Borrow A Friend S Laptop

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The home-based teaching and learning (PdPR) method for students has ended as the two-week school holiday begins.
This time, however, the school holiday coincides with phase one of the total lockdown from June 1 to 14.
Schools are scheduled to reopen on the last day of the lockdown's first phase - after which the limitations of home-based learning will again hit underprivileged students who lack proper devices, good internet access and a conducive learning environment.
Form Five student, Anis Natasha Junoh (above, right), for example, recounted how she previously had to frequent her classmate's home - which is located 10km from her home - just to borrow a laptop and secure stable internet access.
This meant that the 17-year-old orphaned student had to make a 20km round trip each time she needed a laptop to study with.
When met by Malaysiakini in Kampung Banggol Lepah, Ketereh, Kelantan, Anis Natasha said that since losing their parents in a road accident in 2007, she and her sister Ammy Nazira, 16, have lived with their aunt.
Anis Natasha was only three years old when she and her sister became orphans.
“In this village, there is no internet access. Even if there is, it would only be sometimes. That's why I had to go to a friend's house to get internet access, on top of sharing a laptop to study," she said.
However, that is not the worst news for the students involved.
She said if the school session opens and the full movement restriction had not been lifted, she would also face problems as she would not be able to go to her friend's house.
Forced to be at the cybercafe
Indeed, for now, Anis Natasha said, there is a mobile phone that can be used for studying but it needs to be shared with her sister.
Therefore, she explained, laptops are necessary.
On top of that, the limitations of internet speed forced the siblings to turn to areas in their backyard - and near forests - to receive information.
“We will bring a mat to study in the backyard because that’s where the fastest internet access is obtained.
"We have to because at the moment, if we miss an online class when the internet connection really is non-existent, we would have to call a friend to ask about the missed class," she said.
The obstacles felt by the siblings are not an isolated issue.
It was this very situation that prompted Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz to announce the initiative to provide 150,000 laptops to underprivileged students when Budget 2021 was tabled last November.
The laptops are to be donated by government-linked companies and will primarily target B40 families.
However, the extent of the aid’s implementation continues to be raised by various parties, including the leadership of Pakatan Harapan. 




Shamimi Syafiqah Rosli (left) and her sister Shamimi Anisah
Form Three student Shamimi Syafiqah Rosli, 15, said she had to commute to cybercafes to complete work, especially for science subjects that required a laptop for her to complete assignments.
To get there, she would make an 8km journey on a motorbike with her sister.
At the cybercafe, she would rent a computer for an average of two hours a day at a rate of RM2 per hour.
"During the PdPR, I would go to cybercafes to complete assignments for subjects that required a laptop for my schoolwork," she said.
Saving up for a computer
Just like sisters Anis Natasha and Ammy Nazira, Shamimi also faces poor internet access at home.
Hence she always had to leave home to find better internet access.
At times, she was forced to share a phone with her sister because their mother can't afford to buy a laptop or another phone.
"My mother is the sole breadwinner of the family since becoming a single mother."
Shamimi admitted that the situation might offer more relief if she owned her own laptop and didn’t have to take turns using one cell phone with her sister.
"Maybe I wouldn’t have to commute to cybercafes to use computers there," he said.
Matriculation graduate student Anis Arini Asri, 20, also faced the same problem.
She does not have a laptop which is essential for her studies, especially when she continues her education at the degree level in the future.
"Before this, I could borrow a friend's laptop to complete assignments in our dormitory, but for my degree, maybe I will only be studying at home.
"I really need a laptop now. So I'm trying to raise money to buy one after this," she said. - Mkini






Anis Arini Asri (right) with her sister Alisha Ariana

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