With schools forced to close, online learning has become the new norm, especially since educators and parents don’t want the country’s young to miss out on their education.

However, the transition from the physical to the virtual classroom has not been smooth. While students have their own issues adapting, teachers too have their own problems to deal with.

On that note, FMT recently spoke to three teachers willing to share their problems with online teaching. That being said, some names have been changed to protect the identity of the teachers involved.

The pandemic has been rough for Slyvia, 58, a veteran teacher with 34 years of experience under her belt. Just before the lockdown began, she was transferred abruptly to a new school and had no time to familiarise herself with her new environment and students.

“I didn’t know anything about online learning before the pandemic began. I was very desperate, frightened and worried,” she said.

Training was provided by the ministry of education, but according to her, the guides provided were unconcerned if teachers actually understood their own lessons. In the end, students and colleagues proved more useful than any government-provided guide.

Given that many students aren’t familiar with her, Sylvia currently faces the issue of students not logging in for class at all.

“I try to call them but there’s usually no response and of course, we teachers can’t go to their homes to check on them, due to the lockdown,” she said, noting that most of her new students come from B40 families, which partly explains their lack of attendance.

“They are less worried about education and more worried about making money for their families.”

Sylvia recounts one girl who at least made the effort to attend an online class, but was unable to respond whenever she was asked a question. When prodded, the girl eventually revealed that she was actually working at a petrol station while attending class.

Most of her students are forced to use smartphones for their classes, which are hardly an optimal device due to their size.

“More importantly, these students are poor. They can’t just keep topping up their mobile credit.”

Evidently, the wealth gap is causing students across Malaysia to receive inadequate levels of education, a problem that 53-year teacher Eustace, is also noticing.

With the lack of internet access being obvious among his students, Eustace, who has been teaching for 30 years, has never walked into an empty classroom, until now. While he has managed to pick up online learning quickly, his students on the other hand have their own problems.

“Some students don’t have their own phones or tablets and they depend on their parents’ gadgets. But when their parents go off to work, with their phones in tow, the children have nothing to use,” shared the teacher.

Having no gadgets is one issue, and having no internet connectivity is another. To prevent his students from spending too much of their mobile data, Eustace allows students to keep their webcams switched off to save a little more.

According to him, the government’s initiatives of equipping impoverished students with the necessary gadgets and tools has fallen short.

“I’m not sure to whom they are distributing the gadgets; my students have certainly not received them,” he explained, adding that the government needs to work harder in ensuring school students aren’t left stranded.

“If this is done, life would be so much easier for everyone. These lockdowns could go on for the next three years but we’d still be able to continue with our teaching.”

For 33-year old Cornelius, a teacher with eight years of experience, adapting to online teaching wasn’t a problem – maintaining discipline among his students is.

One common issue he faces is that many of his students are uninspired to learn, as they’d rather sleep-in than attend online classes. More importantly, with national examinations made redundant, many students lack the motivation to catch up on their studies.

“Previously, students were inspired to study so that they could do well in their examinations. Now with exams like SPM being postponed, students no longer see the importance let alone the urgency to revise their lessons,” he lamented.

Hence, Cornelius and like-minded teachers have to constantly think of ways to keep students engaged and make sure they are not left behind in their studies.

The prolonged exposure to the digital screen is also hardly comfortable and can be draining in more ways than one.

“It sometimes feels like I am interacting with the computer more than with my students.”

As a biology teacher, Cornelius regrets the fact that his students will also miss out on the experience of conducting their own experiments.

“Online learning is the best alternative we have for now; but in the long run, there are just some things that virtual learning can never achieve.”