Internet connectivity remains a problem in rural schools

A view of Sekolah Kebangsaan Linungkuan Tenghilan.

PETALING JAYA: Somewhere in a hilly area of Sabah’s Tuaran district is a primary school with 52 students and it has problems typical of rural schools in the state.

You can reach Sekolah Kebangsaan Linungkuan Tenghilan by car, but only in the dry season.

It was impossible for some students to get connected to the internet in their homes for online learning during the movement control order (MCO) period that began in March, said the headmaster, whom students and teachers fondly refer to as Cikgu Matli.

“They live at the foothills,” he said. “So there is no connection. Some, with the help of their parents, were forced to look for locations where the internet could be accessed. They had to climb a hill to get connected.”

Some had to wait for their parents to return home from work in order to use their mobile phones.

“When their parents go to work, at times they have to enter the forest and their children sometimes have to wait till late at night to do their schoolwork,” Matli said.

The pupils, however, were quick to adapt to using the technology, he added.

“In the beginning, of course, it was challenging to them, but they soon got used to it.”

He said the teachers did not face too many problems conducting lessons from their homes and sending out tasks to their students because they generally have good internet connections in their houses.

But internet facilities at the school itself are not as good as they should be.

“For the teachers, any task requiring internet use is difficult,“ Matli said, adding that they sometimes had to climb to higher ground to get connected.

He said there had been efforts to test whether connections could be supplied by mainstream service providers. “There was just no access,” he added.

He said he would welcome help by any interested party, adding that some NGOs were in the process of giving such help.

“We understand that the education department, even though it tries to help, faces limits in terms of allocations,” he said.

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