When the Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia came into force on March 18 to try to slow the spread of the Covid-19 infection, families faced stresses such as job losses and having to cope with children at home, and some people went into mental depression. Fortunately, for the past few years Goducate Sabah had already been using digital platforms such as WhatsApp, Messenger chats, and video calls to communicate with the mothers there. These platforms became especially helpful in offering emotional support to the community during the MCO period.
To continue with the training programs for the mothers on literacy, moral values, and health information, we started meeting the mothers on Zoom. Those mothers with smart phones invited neighbors without such phones to attend the Zoom sessions together. The teaching session was followed by an hour and a quarter of small-group discussions. These sessions added up to a great time of bonding in class despite the lockdown. They even helped us in identifying the needy homes and areas that most required the relief goods that we could distribute.
The teachers who teach the children in Sabah are mostly mothers with some level of school education whom we had trained to be teachers. With the MCO we needed more teachers, so we created a program called the Mothers’ Teaching Class, to teach English literacy in a way simple enough for mothers with low literacy levels to use to pass on what they learn to their children. This class is open to mothers who have mobile phones with WhatsApp or Messenger applications. We use the Facebook group to create our classroom in which we download our lessons for them to study and learn. Once a week we gather them for a 30-minute video call to discuss the lesson and to make sure the mothers have understood and can deliver the lesson. These calls not only give the mothers an opportunity to learn but also the chance to build friendships with other mothers in the class.
We have faced many challenges in using technology—for instance, buying data, availability of signal, and mothers’ willingness to participate actively in a video call. However, it just takes a compassionate teacher or trainer to handle these challenges. Since we are still in the very early phase of online teaching, we are doing the best to learn more ways to teach the mothers effectively. Fortunately, since movement restrictions were eased, and we are now able to have monthly physical gatherings to get feedbacks about the class.
*Our guest writer is the Goducate Sabah Training Coordinator.