“A lost year can have long-term repercussions,” said Mohamed Yunus Mohamed Yasin. “Students who are unable to keep up with studies, especially when they move on to upper standards, are likely to drop out.”

Yunus, who is the president of the Association of Science, Technology, and Innovation, said this was especially the case for science and mathematics subjects.

He said the association recently published a report based on a survey of 120 Tamil rural and urban school teachers in Peninsular Malaysia.

Some 82% of the teachers’ students are from B40 families, and 60.8% of the teachers said their students lacked access to devices.

Only 20% of those with access to mobile devices said online learning was effective, while 15.2% noted their students had difficulty in concentrating and interacting during classes.

Yunus said although the survey involved only 120 teachers, the findings were similar to the issues highlighted by other non-governmental organisations working with marginalised communities and students in people’s housing projects (PPRs).

“The main problem is access to the internet and devices. One example we know about is a family staying at a PPR. When the parents go to work, they take their mobile phones with them so the children have nothing to use for online learning.

“When the parents come home, they have to prioritise which of their children should use the device first because some have exams, so in the end, the kids end up staying up late to do their homework.”

He said this leads to an unhealthy situation where children become demotivated to learn and fall behind in their studies.

Yunus said so far, there have not been many studies on the challenges of online learning in Malaysia, and this is something the authorities should look into urgently.

“At this point in time, we can’t see all the challenges with online learning because not every student has adequate access to online learning. A lack of devices and connectivity is the biggest hurdle, but it is also the first hurdle which many are unable to surpass. So there may be other hurdles ahead which we cannot see, perhaps this could just be the tip of the iceberg.”

A number of parties and MPs have voiced concern over the lack of devices and internet connectivity that will affect many students following the closure of schools because of the spike in Covid-19 cases.

Yunus said the priority now is for all stakeholders to work together to ensure all students nationwide had access to online learning so that no child gets left behind.