Reveal data on students left behind due to school closures, ministry told

 

The education ministry must also be transparent on the effectiveness of home-based teaching and learning, says the PH education committee.

PETALING JAYA: The education ministry has been urged to provide statistics on students who have been left behind over the past year, especially those who are still unable to read and write, and reveal the plans to assist them.

Pakatan Harapan’s education committee said the figures were important with students having lost more than 100 schooling days without any intervention from the government.

The committee urged the education ministry to be transparent by revealing the data on the effectiveness of home-based teaching and learning (PdPR), such as the percentage of student attendance in online classes and the attendance when schools were temporarily opened earlier this year before the movement control order (MCO 3.0).

“This is all for the common good. Measures to improve PdPR after a year are necessary, and contributions from various parties involved are very much needed,” the committee said in a statement today.

The committee also criticised the ministry for not dealing with education issues effectively during the pandemic and urged it to interact actively with relevant stakeholders to solve the problems.

“Collaborative efforts are needed to ensure the best education can be given to children. This has been repeatedly brought up by various parties but is ignored by the government.

Further, the committee urged the government to establish a national education council comprising experts, professionals, academics and representatives from teachers and parent associations to formulate an integrated plan for post-pandemic education. - FMT