KUALA LUMPUR: Good teacher-parent communication is vital in creating an effective home-based teaching and learning (PdPR ) ecosystem for students, said Education and Professional Continuing expert Prof Dr Ismi Arif Ismail.
He said such interaction would also make the learning process more enjoyable for students.
“Regular communication between teachers and parents is vital for PdPR as it has become the teaching and learning method in this new normal environment,” he told Bernama.
Ismi Arif said apart from sharing what have been taught and homework, teachers should always encourage parents to give their support to ensure effective PdPR can be achieved.
He said such communication should also be more holistic and balanced in fulfilling the shared responsibility of educating the students.
“An effective communication will help resolve any problem that may arise and enable students to participate in PdPR based on their abilities,” said Ismi Arif who is also the director of the Institute of Social Sciences Studies (IPSAS), Putra Infoport, Universiti Putra Malaysia.
In a statement issued on Jan 16, the Education Ministry said all primary pupils and students from Form 1 to Form 5 will follow PdPR according to the suitability of teachers and students beginning today.
It said the decision was made following discussions with the Health Ministry and the National Security Council (MKN) as well as in reference to the recent Covid-19 case trend.
The decision has drawn mixed reactions from various parties, especially parents who have taken to social media to pen their views.
Sharing similar sentiment, National Parents-Teacher Associations Consultative Council (PIBGN) president Associate Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Ali Hassan who stressed on the importance of cooperation between teachers and parents especially to discipline the students.
He said full commitment of all parties is also needed to ensure the success of the PdPR approach which was still new in Malaysia.
“Parents should always monitor the PdPR process to ensure that their children attend all classes while at the same time, teachers need to understand the situation of the parents who are mostly working from home,” he said.
Malaysian Muslim Teachers Association (iGuru) president Mohd Azizee Hasan said teachers, parents and students should take advantage of the existing digital learning platforms including the Digital Educational Learning Initiative Malaysia (DELIMa), Google Classroom and Sophia.my.
He said students could also benefit from the educational television programme, TV Pendidikan which is aired on various television channels such as TV Okey (RTM), Tutor TV (Astro) and DIDIKTV @ NTV7 on NTV7, as well as EduWebTV.
“These programmes will be of great benefit to students and parents as well in embracing this teaching mode especially during the Movement Control Order period,” he said. — Bernama
