Main image via Wired
The coronavirus pandemic has not been good to us, especially our fellow Malaysians in the B40 group, and it seems that every day they face a new challenge, even post-MCO.
One of these new issues faced by lower-income families is education, and the children’s willingness to continue schooling as classes move online.
Image via Wired
The United Nations’ (UN) Families on the Edge project, a study conducted between the end of the Movement Control Order (MCO) period and September showed some concerning statistics, describing the socio-economic status and well-being of a group of 500 families with children in Kuala Lumpur’s low-cost flats.
Although children are back in school, quite a number of them are demotivated and have lost interest in learning following the MCO.
Nearly one in five parents reported that their child has lost interest in school, and it’s worse for children of female heads of households, where one in four is not keen to study.
With that, the major challenge for parents is to keep their children motivated to study, but of course, there is always the constant issue of financial stability:
60% have difficulties in paying tuition fees.
65% find it difficult to provide pocket money.
30% struggle to pay for transportation fees.
And due to the pandemic, 46% have difficulties in providing face masks daily.
Online learning is another big challenge, especially with schools closed, because not only do some of these families lack proper equipment, but the internet connection is of course, slower with everyone at home.
During the MCO, nearly nine in 10 children only used mobile phones as learning devices, while eight in 10 had no access to computers.
Image via The Conversation
It was also found that a strong majority (76%) of parents do not want their children doing online classes, solely because of either lack of internet access or no digital devices.
This has forced parents to send their children for extra tuition classes, and teachers having to provide additional review at school, just so children can catch up on their lessons.
And so, this issue clearly requires more attention, with the study recommending that measures to prevent school drop-outs need to be strengthened, including through more active risk-informed collaboration between schools and social welfare services.
Still want to complain about online classes? Remember that there are others having it worse!
by Kyle Roshen Jacob
Filled Under :
*We reserve the right to delete comments that contain inappropriate content.