H1N1: Educators favour Internet use to help students with studies

EDUCATORS in Brunei Darussalam say that utilising the Internet to correspond with their students was one of the best ways to carry on with the studies despite the extension of school holidays in the wake of Influenza 'A'(H1N1) outbreak.

Some schools have taken this initiative to ensure that there was an exchange between student and teachers so that students are not behind in studies.

Principal of Sekolah Tinggi Perempuan Raja Isteri (STPRI) Mrs Ang said that a very small percentage of the students in Secondary Four and Five, have already started exchanging work with their teachers.

"This has been going on for quite awhile, even before the outbreak teachers have been giving homework and class projects through email," she said.

Having mentioned that some schools have already practising this, she said that at a time like this, it was only feasible that students and teachers correspond through the Internet.

Upon hearing that students in other countries have been exchanging their daily lessons over the Internet with their teachers, she said that schools in Brunei should be encouraged but there are some limitations that need to be ironed out.

"Not every household is equipped with a computer," she said.

Another educator at a Upper Secondary school, who opted for anonymity, said that in times of urgency, there should be some sort of official statement, stating that school work can be done over the Internet.

"I absolutely agree that students and teachers should utilise the Internet in case of instances such as the H1N1 outbreak," she said.

Principal of Chung Hwa Middle School Madam Kho Guik Lan said that using the Internet as a tool of disseminating information would benefit the students greatly.

In a meeting she had with the teachers of the school, she said that they had discussed ways to ensure that students' studies do not suffer.

"After the decision was made, we came up with emailing the students their assignments as well as giving them extra classes to catch up," she said.

Speaking of a website called Live Edu that they are currently using, Madam Kho said that they are now using the website so that students can make use of their holiday as well as during the one-week extension due to the outbreak.

"The students can download their homework as well as other info about the school from the website," she said.

She also said that in countries like Malaysia, the outbreak has forced the schools to upload the homework through their website and email it to students.

A representative from MoE said that the Acting Minister of Education, Pg Dato Seri Setia Dr Hj Mohammad Pg Hj Abd Rahman, in an interview with RTB on June 30 said that during the one-week extension of the second term school holidays teachers should be encouraged to correspond with their students through the Internet.

Knowing that teachers have already taken this initiative, the representative said that this was a "good news" because it is aligned to what the acting minister had said.

He also said that parents should play a role in terms of monitoring the students with their school work instead of letting them out during the virus outbreak.

However, the usage of the Internet is only advised for now, he said and would still be applicable if there was another extension, but did not comment on official plans to use the Internet in the long run.The Brunei Times