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🇸🇬 Singapore /Economy & Trade

Digital Poverty Holds Back Malaysia’s Needy Children

From The Straits Times · (2d ago) English Critical tone

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Four primary school-aged children in Kuala Lumpur share a single, aging smartphone for all their homework and assignments.
  • Their father's income of less than RM3,000 per month is insufficient to afford essential digital tools like a laptop, highlighting the growing issue of digital poverty.
  • This digital divide, exacerbated by the pandemic's shift to online learning, significantly impacts students' academic performance, confidence, and future opportunities in Malaysia's increasingly digital education system.

In the heart of Kuala Lumpur, a stark reality unfolds in a two-bedroom public housing flat where four siblings, aged eight to 12, huddle around a single, aging smartphone. This device, their only gateway to education, is passed around diligently as they tackle homework and assignments, a poignant symbol of the digital poverty gripping Malaysia's most vulnerable children.

It’s my phone. When they need it for school, they use mine.

— Mas Amirah YaacobA mother describes how her children share a single smartphone for their schoolwork.

Homemaker Mas Amirah Yaacob, 34, watches her children navigate this challenging landscape. The RM399 smartphone, bought two years ago, is constantly full, its limited 64GB storage groaning under the weight of assignments. Her husband, Hafizal Abd Halim, 42, works tirelessly as a cafe employee and food delivery rider, but his combined monthly income of less than RM3,000 barely covers basic necessities, let alone the cost of a laptop, which averages more than that in Malaysia.

This digital chasm, once a temporary inconvenience during the Covid-19 pandemic's home-based learning (PdPR) era, has now become a permanent hurdle. Even with schools reopened, the Education Ministry's DELIMa platform hosts compulsory assignments that significantly impact final grades. As English teacher Soffeatul Raunaqiah Mohamad Rahim observes, students who returned to classrooms with personal laptops are more confident, while those relying on shared phones are perpetually playing catch-up.

Possessing these skills often means they are selected to represent their schools, which leads to better merit and improved chances of entering better schools.

— Soffeatul Raunaqiah Mohamad RahimAn English teacher explains the long-term advantages of digital access for students.

From a Malaysian perspective, this isn't just about access to technology; it's about equity in education and future opportunities. The skills gained through digital access – fluency in English, awareness of global issues, coding, and AI – are crucial for innovation and inter-school competitions. The "domino effect" of digital access, or lack thereof, perpetuates a cycle, determining who gets selected for prestigious school roles and who has a better chance of entering better educational institutions. This disparity is a critical issue that requires urgent attention to ensure no child is left behind in Malaysia's drive towards a digital future.

The domino effect of having access, or lacking it, continues over time.

— Soffeatul Raunaqiah Mohamad RahimAn English teacher elaborates on the cumulative impact of digital access on students' academic and future prospects.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Straits Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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