Light at the end of the tunnel
I am writing this on May 4, as Malaysia transitions from the Movement Control Order to the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO). As we enter this phase of containing Covid-19, how is this affecting higher education? In this article, I would like to focus on just two aspects.
Programme delivery
We are unable to conduct face-to-face teaching at the moment. This is the correct decision, not only from a social distancing point of view, but also as many students have now returned home or are in the process of doing so, it would be difficult, indeed impossible, to ask them to return to campus to receive face-to-face lectures, workshops and seminars.
International students would be especially affected. Many of them have spent a lot of time, energy and money getting home to their respective countries. Even if they wanted to, they may not be able to get back to Malaysia due to airline schedules, visas and financial costs. It is only right that we support them through an online environment, at least for the next few months.
The University of Nottingham Malaysia, along with most institutions, will continue to deliver our programmes through an online platform. Our guided learning approach is working well, and feedback suggests that many students have taken easily to this way of learning, with many actually preferring it.
I believe that online delivery, and only online delivery, will be required until at least the end of this academic year, but I fear that no face-to-face teaching will be possible for the rest of this calendar year.
This does present some problems in certain areas such as laboratory-based classes, PHD students who require access to labs and those that must have face-to-face interaction as part of an accredited programme where a professional body has certain requirements that need to be met.
These challenges are being discussed at the moment and I am confident that the Education Ministry, universities and many other stakeholders will find a solution to this issue.
Students travelling home
The University of Nottingham Malaysia, at the time restricted movement was first introduced, had about 700 students in its
student accommodation and about 200 students living in accommodation in close vicinity to the campus. This has been a difficult time for the students concerned, as they were not allowed to leave the campus and those living off campus were not allowed to enter the campus. This did create some frustration but students were largely accepting and appreciative of the measures we had to enforce.
Thankfully, even before CMCO was announced, students were starting to return home. Whether you are a home (Malaysian) student or an international student, after spending six weeks having your movement restricted, it must be a relief that you will soon be able to return home and be with family once again. Of course, a sudden movement of all the students in Malaysia, whether internally or at KLIA, would potentially create more issues than it solves. It was right that a strict SOP was put in place and we have been working within that SOP in helping our students return home.
Students are given different departure points based on where they will be travelling to and all students need to pass medical screening in order to travel. We would like to express our thanks to both the Education Ministry and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (our zone leader) for the help and support they have given us, and our students, during this difficult time.
Programme delivery and students returning home are just two challenges that the higher education sector is addressing. As with all sectors, Covid-19 presents a significant effect on higher education. I have just drawn out two examples here, but please get in touch if you would like more details.
We are confident that we will emerge from Covid-19 and fitter and stronger than before, and what we thought was an approaching train was actually a light at the end of the tunnel.