Remedial lessons better than repeating school year, say activists

 

Schools have undergone nearly two years of interruptions caused by lockdowns. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: A teaching union and a parents’ organisation have given lukewarm responses to a proposal for the education ministry to repeat the current school year so that students and teachers can readjust after nearly two years of interruptions caused by lockdowns.

Sarawak Teachers Union president Adam Prakash Abdullah warned that students might be “angry with the system” if they were to repeat a subject they had already spent time learning, and Parent Action Group For Education secretary Tunku Munawirah Putra said there should first be a study to show that students would benefit from such an initiative.

“However, we also caution that our PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) data does not support the notion that longer years in learning would improve education attainment,” Munawirah told FMT, referring to the international evaluation of how good a country’s pupils are in mathematics, science and reading.

“As it stands, during normal times, our 15-year-olds are three years behind Singapore’s 15-year-olds in education attainment,” she said.

The proposal was made by Parti Aspirasi Sains Malaysia , which said a repeat of the school year would “provide breathing space for students and teachers, especially those who stopped attending online classes due to the MCOs throughout the remainder of 2021”.

However, it also said students whose parents wanted them to advance to the next year should be given the option to do so.

Munawirah said: “What is more important is that we need to reprioritise education goals to ensure that those who are at a disadvantage do not lose interest in learning and drop out of school altogether.”

She said disadvantaged students should be given guidance and encouragement to keep learning but those able to progress should not be held back.

She suggested a test to assess students’ competence so that they could be assigned tasks matching their abilities.

The idea is similar to one proposed by Adam, who said having remedial lessons for weaker students would help them catch up with their classmates.

“We’re not sure what the future holds, but we cannot be constantly repeating,” said the veteran educator who currently trains teachers at the Rajang Teachers Training College in Bintangor.

“We have to make the best of what we have. A better option would be for students who need more support in some subjects to have remedial lessons or a support class for that subject.

“They can then keep on moving forward and improve on their weaker subjects.” - FMT