KUALA LUMPUR – Former education minister Maszlee Malik has called on teachers and parents to help one another by providing an effective education environment for children undertaking teaching and learning at home during the current Covid-19 pandemic.
He said both parties have a responsibility to ensure education goes on no matter what the crisis.
“The communication between teachers and parents is very important to avoid the senseless blaming of each other,” the Simpang Renggam MP said in a statement today.
He said that while teachers must adapt to the new normal and provide effective and measurable teaching, parents must become the eyes and ears of teachers until the time comes when schools can be reopened.
“Only then can we work together to avoid a ‘lost generation’ of students by accommodating their need for quality education,” he said.
He also encouraged parents and teachers to make use of the free education portal Sophia.my to advance education at home during the movement control order (MCO) period as the website has over 13,000 free education materials for all to use.
“I understand that all parents and teachers feel restless and challenged by the situation,” he said. “However, we must remember that there is no easy way out of the predicament we face today.”
Expressing empathy for both teachers and parents, Maszlee noted that almost 4.7 million students cannot go to school and more than 413,000 teachers have to teach from home.
“I believe that all teachers are in a dilemma because not all students possess conducive, online-learning environments.
“Aside from that, teachers are also tired because they have had to teach from home since the past year,” he said.
“I also believe that parents today are very concerned about the progress of their children’s education. Last year, the children were in school for less than 6 months.
“This has doubtlessly affected their level of motivation and focus to complete the remainder of their education,” he added. – The Vibes, January 18, 2021
