Speaking to FMT, NUTP President Kamarozaman Abd Razak also said that only a handful of students benefitted from using the Internet service.
The RM4.1 billion 1BestariNet project, launched by then education minister Muhyiddin Yassin, was aimed at providing government schools with high-speed 4G connectivity and an online learning platform with the Frog VLE (Virtual Learning Environment).
The project to provide Internet connectivity to over 10,000 government schools nationwide was awarded to YTL Communications Sdn Bhd via an open tender.
“If there were 10 students, only half could use the programme,” Kamarozaman said, adding that constant Internet service disruptions greatly affected the learning process.
“Sometimes, teachers would have to pay for their own Internet connections. It was a waste when we had 1BestariNet but teachers could not use it.”
Kamarozaman did not rule out the possibility that the project’s failure stemmed from agreements between the Education Ministry and the company awarded the project against the use of other Internet service providers.
“By right, schools should be allowed to choose their own service providers, with the Parent-Teacher Associations footing the bill.”
Earlier this week, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) urged the Auditor-General to conduct a second review of the 1BestariNet project.
The committee had said that apart from the project being riddled with numerous suspicious expenses, the contracts awarded had been poorly managed as well.
PAC again calls for audit on RM4 billion school Internet project