Tough start to HBL, but this mother of four keeps her cool
Madam Nurwiyah's children enjoyed 'early recess' yesterday until MOE portal got back on track
To prepare for the first day of home-based learning (HBL), Madam Nurwiyah Awang had worked out a schedule for her children and felt confident that she and her husband would be able to help the three of them - even while both husband and wife would be busy working from home.
So when her daughters had trouble logging in to the official Student Learning Space (SLS) portal yesterday, Madam Nurwiyah, instead of being frustrated or angry, coped with the disruption, tweaking the schedule and asking them to read or play games with one another.
Speaking to The New Paper yesterday, the personal assistant, 42, who has four daughters aged five, seven, 10 and 13, said: "I stayed calm, not wanting to stress myself or the kids. I just told myself: Breathe and take it easy."
Some students said that after a difficult start yesterday, the portal was up and running in about an hour, while others experienced difficulties until late morning.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) apologised for the slowdown of the SLS yesterday and said in a statement that it had "immediately activated additional system resources" to tackle the problem.
MOE added that its team was "actively monitoring the system's performance and working on the issues" to minimise disruptions for teachers and students.
After a spike in the number of primary school pupils testing positive for Covid-19, with most of them linked to a cluster from private tuition centre Learning Point, MOE announced last week that all primary, secondary and junior college students, as well as those from Millennia Institute and special education schools, would shift to HBL from yesterday to May 28, when the current school term ends.
Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing acknowledged in a Facebook post yesterday that many people were disappointed that some students had issues with the portal.
"The Ministry of Education is doing a review to identify the issue and will rectify it. Thank you for your understanding," he said.
Madam Nurwiyah said her three girls were not affected.
"They knew that many of students were accessing the platform at the same time. They were confident the system would get back on so they went for 'recess'. They were still able to run around amid the tight space that we have at home," she said.
Associate Professor Lee Yew Jin from the National Institute of Education said he was surprised by the breakdown as he had expected the hardware and software to have been strengthened after the SLS experienced similar issues in April last year during the first HBL exercise.
But he added that technical issues would decrease over time with more experience.
Mrs Grace Yang, 36, who has two girls, one aged five and the other nine, said the experience from last year's HBL exercise would make it easier for parents this time around.
"We have done HBL before and we know what to expect, so I think it will be less chaotic this time," she said.
'DUTY ROSTER'
With her younger daughter also occupied daily with colouring and reading exercises, she and her husband, who both work, have devised a "duty roster".
"I try to schedule meetings in the afternoon so that I can sit with my girls while they do their lessons in the morning. If they have enrichment classes in the afternoon, my husband takes over," said Mrs Yang, a procurement manager.
Parents are not the only ones expecting to do better with HBL this time.
Secondary 4 student, Aqif Haziq Putra Muhamad Farid, said: "Last year, the school did pre-recorded videos, but now they conduct lessons through Zoom, which is a good thing as my teachers can keep an eye on my work progress."
But the 16-year-old from St Gabriel's Secondary School hopes it will not disrupt his preparations for the O levels.
"The classroom is definitely a more conducive environment. My grades are improving now, and I don't want to lose that momentum with the HBL kicking in," Aqif said.
STRAIN
Dr Jonathan Sim, an instructor in computational reasoning at the National University of Singapore's department of philosophy, said HBL is more of a strain on students.
He said: "It is mentally more exhausting to concentrate in front of the computer than in a physical class, and it is more isolating for learners when they struggle and cannot find support from their classmates in the same way they can in a physical classroom.
"It is essential that educators do... simple things like expressing words of kindness and care over text, or checking in on students and inviting them to share how they feel."
While she adjusts to her second HBL stint, Madam Nurwiyah's mantra, not surprisingly, is to take things in her stride.
Even though she did not get much of her own work done yesterday, she is confident "it will get better when everyone gets the hang of it".
She is also full of praise for her children.
She said: "The older kids actually help the younger ones with their school work, and this takes some of the load off me. They are quite independent in that way, thankfully."
ADDITIONAL REPORTING: SERENE HO, JEREMIAH ONG
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now