BETONG: The government should look at the suitability of the replacement of the Textbook Loan Scheme (SPBT) with the Computer Loan Scheme (SPK) as an educational transformation measure in line with the development of online teaching and learning (PdP) today.
According to Batu Lintang Teacher Training Institute (IPG) senior lecturer Dr Abang Ismail Abang Julhi, a study conducted by the Ministry of Education (MoE) in 2019 showed that only 20 percent of PdP was successful.
“Two main factors that drive such things are the lack of devices and unsatisfactory internet access.
“Based on these factors, the MoE should think of new transformation in the national education system, for example, creating SPK.
“There are some justifications on why SPK should be created (to replace SPBT) — the first factor would be the preference of today’s students to use sophisticated gadgets or devices.
“Although not all students have it, they are more comfortable using gadgets for PdP and social media purposes.
“Furthermore, the use of gadgets for PdP is very much demanded during this Covid-19 pandemic,” he told our reporter on Wednesday (Feb 3).
Further elaborating, he said SPBT, which was introduced in 1975 to ensure that students from low-income families receive textbooks in the first week of the beginning of each school session, is indeed acknowledged to be of great benefit to millions of our children.
“Moreover, MoE, through the Education Resources and Technology Division, under restructuring on Jan 3, 2019, is constantly updating and refining books from time to time according to the current development.
“However, I still believe that MoE should introduce SPK to all students.
“To implement this initiative, MoE has been proposed to work closely with the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia as well as the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation so that any issues can be addressed together.
“This does not mean that we want to totally eliminate textbooks — they are still in use but not printed anymore.
“With SPK, the contents in the textbooks can be downloaded through the Google Classroom application in students’ devices.
“This also allows them to read textbooks virtually and indirectly, and this could help reduce the use of paper in our country — in line with the call of Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, who suggested reducing the use of paper during the 2021 National Budget presentation in last October,” he pointed out.
Apart from that, Dr Abang Ismail said if every student has a good device and Internet access, the PdP process will run smoothly.
“It will also be easier for teachers to send assignments to their students and students to resubmit their assignments to their teachers.
“This approach facilitates the work of both parties. Students no longer have to wait for their parents/guardians to return (from work) to start their respective PdP as is currently the case,” he said.
He added that by reducing the printing costs of textbooks, our country will be able to supply devices to all students.
“SPK is very important. Like it or not, we have to transform our education system from using textbooks to digital methods in line with the current development,” stressed the Batu Lintang IPG senior lecturer.
