KOTA KINABALU – Almost 18 months into the pandemic, Sabah is still not ready for online learning and teaching, said Women in Sabah’s Expression (WiSE) today.
Not only the state lacks the infrastructure but internet coverage and devices to facilitate the classes, it added.
The group also said the Sabah government’s move to distribute 10,000 laptops for Form 5 and 6 students under the Bantuan Ihsan Komputer (Baik) plan is not enough.
It said the number of poor students in Sabah is overwhelming and efforts to close the gap will not be successful.
“It is known Sabah has the highest poverty rate in Malaysia. The poverty rate stands at 19.5% – which means 760,000 people from the state’s 3.9 million population are living in poverty,” the group said, citing statistics by the Prime Minister’s Department.
The group also said the schools in Sabah remain in poor conditions after 63 years of independence, and the pandemic has revealed more serious and critical problems in the education system.
“Malaysia is already in its second year of pandemic and currently in its third lockdown. The online lesson and learning policy should suit the needs of every state.”
WiSE said the government should implement television learning as the current broadcasting infrastructure is the only one that has nationwide coverage. – The Vibes, June 9, 2021
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