LETTER | Teaching in complete darkness due to power shortage

LETTER | It was just a day before the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2020 examination for Moral subject and our teacher had planned to give us another online class to better prepare us for it. 

Our teacher, Mr Vicky would be conducting the class from the school’s staff room because the school has a more decent Internet connection.

The class was scheduled to start at 6.30pm but unfortunately, due to a heavy thunderstorm, the power supply was cut off for the whole school and the class had to be postponed. Mr Vicky tried to turn the power back on but to no avail and was forced to teach in the darkness at 7.30pm.

The staff room was so dark that we could not see our teacher’s face at all. All we could see was the dim light of the computer screen illuminating his shirt. It must have been very hot too.

The class went on for two hours, and since the class started late, Mr Vicky had to skip his dinner to teach. He ended up only eating bread for dinner at around 10.30pm when he got home. We were very touched by how far our teachers were willing to go to make sure we could do well in our exams. 

I still remember my Malay language teacher, Mrs Muzlina, who also had to eat her lunch late because she wanted to join an online class conducted by other teachers and learn from them. By doing this, she'd gain more knowledge and experience to teach her students in class better in the future.

These two examples are among the few things that my teachers have done that I am very grateful for and worth sharing. The teachers sacrifice themselves like burning candles to illuminate the path for students. Since the pandemic, the flames have been burning brighter than ever.

The teachers have to come up with new ways to teach students both online and offline. They are concerned about not being able to catch up with the syllabus and students not remembering what has been taught. They are worried about the students' future.

Not only that, the new KSSM syllabus requires teachers to evaluate student performance and engagement in class such as students asking critical thinking questions. In my opinion, this is incredibly hard to be carried out because not all students are active in class and engagements are even worse during online classes.

Some teachers need to take care of their family too. It is especially tough to take care of your own children who are still young while looking after your students at the same time. This is no easy task.

Teachers have done a lot of things for students even during this challenging period. I urge everyone to not blame them when things do not go smoothly because teachers are humans too. Their work deserves recognition.

Once again, I would like to say thank you to all the teachers for trying their best to help students, I really appreciate it. Just a small reminder to all teachers: please remember to take care of yourself too! As good students, we shall do our best to repay our debts. Teachers are supposed to be respected.