This is an interesting featurette highlighting a town folk of ours called Muhammad Aisham Azahar who teaches English in SK Pos Gedong, Bidor.
Since the implementation of the MCO, Muhammad Aisham will be riding his motorcycle from his rented house in Bidor to the Orang Asli village in Pos Gedong to send copies of school homework from home to his students’ homes every Monday.
At the end of the week, the youth returned to the village to collect the work of his pupils for corrective review before submitting new homework.
Aisham, the friendly teacher said the limited communication and internet facilities in the rural area made him perform this routine to make sure his students didn’t drop out.
“I have no choice but to do so because of the limited communication facilities and no internet access in their area. For them, I will provide training questions through reference materials such as UPSR format questions.
“So far, they have made a commitment and usually I will be able to explain the mistakes made or write in the section of the training room before sending it back to them when giving them new homework,” he said.
Aisham said the teaching and learning (PdP) method of Orang Asli students is not the same as they need face-to-face coaching and a more creative approach.
“English is the third language of the Orang Asli people. Usually they need more time to understand the Malay language took so we (teachers) added the elements of sound and music to attract them. But now, it had to be replaced with methods of training in the form of questions.
“What is troubling is that some students followed their families deeper into the jungle for fear of an outbreak.
“This is what I was discussing with the headmaster on how to keep these kids from going to school because they need constant guidance,” he said.
He said that he had considered the fifth year the most challenging of his career but to no avail.
“Although I have to do everything manually, I consider this challenge a new experience and further my passion for education,” he said.
Source: Harian Metro