09 May 2020
The Ministry of Education has provided about 3,300 electronic devices such as tablets and laptops to students who require them for home-based learning.
According the Education Minister Ong Ye Kung, schools will also reach out to students who may not have support at home for home-based learning. These students can use computers and the Internet access in their school while being supervised by teachers.
Corporate sponsors have also been roped in to assist needy students. For example, StarHub will be sponsoring unlimited mobile broadband connectivity to 550 students from lower-income families who do not have access to broadband at home.
Schools have dug into their stockpile of devices and sourced for more in order to ensure that all students will be able to carry out HBL effectively.
But apart from coping with the technological demands of HBL, the bigger issue, for most of their students, is that real life has intruded. Some children have shared their anxieties over their parents losing jobs. And with the loss of income, others have had to fret about going hungry.
As such, teachers have also become confidants and counsellors to these students.