Students can’t return to school next week, to still undergo PdPR for 25 days

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A pupil studies during a PdPR session. — Bernama file photo

KUALA LUMPUR (June 6): Students may not return to school when it reopens on June 13 and 14 nationwide, instead they will undergo another round of Teaching and Learning at Home (PdPR).

Education Minister Radzi Jidin said the PdPR will be for the 25 days students were required to return to school before their next holiday term begins.

“This will apply to private, expat and international schools that have been registered with the Ministry of Education (MoE).

“They will all do PdPR from June 13 for Group A states till July 16 while for Group B states who start school on June 14 they will do PdPR until July 17,” he said during a live telecast on Facebook this morning.

All students in Group A states (schools in Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu) were supposed to start school on June 13 while Group B schools (Perlis, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Melaka, Pahang, Sabah, Sarawak, Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya) on June 14th.

After 25 days of schooling they would have started their mid-term break from July 16-25 for Group A and July 17-26 for Group B.

Radzi said they will assess the situation closer to that date and will notify everyone a week before the end of the schooling term on what the next approach should be.

When questioned on the effectiveness of the PdPR following reports of students struggling with the load of subjects as well as complaints of absentee or lazy teachers plus the effectiveness of the PdPR programme Radzi said MoE are always trying to improve the system.

He said they will attempt to monitor and evaluate the teachers but reminded the public that all lessons conducted under these challenging conditions are different for everyone.

For those with limited internet access teachers are finding other ways to communicate.

“In the early stages there were issues in implementing PdPR in March 2020. We could see the struggles to adapt to it but in a year I believe things have improved a lot.

“I’ve heard people complaining about the PdPR 2.0 syllabus, however it is just a guideline for the parents and teachers to look and see what we are trying to implement. In the end the teachers will know the best methods for their students as not all students are the same.

“Teachers are using varied methods to get the lessons across like using WhatsApp in poor internet connection areas and it is perhaps the biggest challenge during these pandemic times, to tailor the lessons around the children.

“At MoE we will always try to improve the system and monitor its effectiveness,” he added when asked if there was a system in place to assess the effectiveness of PdPR. – Malay Mail