COMMENT | Budget 2021: Tailoring the students' needs to ensure learning continuity

COMMENT | With the education sector being the largest recipient of allocations with RM64.8 billion in Budget 2021, it is essential to ensure that the current online teaching-learning process is enhanced not only by addressing the insufficient digital infrastructure, but also by adjusting the current lesson plans and how the learning process should be conducted.

In brief, as all schools nationwide will be closed until Dec 17, traditionally the last day of the school year, certain assessments and learning contents could no longer take place as before, so, alternative methods are needed to achieve the same learning outcomes.

First, let’s discuss the hot issue that has long been questioned and talked since the early days of Covid-19 – inadequate digital infrastructure.

Technically, as distance learning solutions were developed to support education continuity, insufficient digital infrastructure has hampered the vulnerable students, especially those living in poor or rural areas, from coping with online learning...