Due to the evolving Covid-19 situation in Singapore, schools have shifted to home-based learning (HBL) since April 8, as part of the elevated safe distancing measures.

One Alex Tay, who did not state if he is a parent, has written a Straits Times forum letter to state his views on the curriculum.

One of his main gripes was that students have no proper schedule to follow, and that HBL deviated too far from a classroom setting.

Not engaging enough?

Here is the letter, uploaded by a Singaporean teacher to Facebook:

According to Tay, he had noticed students not having a proper regimen while HBL is being conducted during the circuit breaker period.

Tay felt that there was "barely any resemblance" between an actual classroom and the virtual classroom setup.

"Some of these virtual classes are just audio recordings of the teacher's instructions with guiding slides flashed on screen," he wrote.

"Although the onus is on students to manage their own home-based learning, schools should ensure that the e-learning environment is as close to a real classroom setting as possible."

He suggested that this could be "easily done" with live video chats, where teachers can constantly supervise and maintain eye contact with their students.

Tay said that it would help students concentrate better, and ease the transition for students when they return to school after the circuit breaker period ends.

Teacher writes clapback post on Facebook

In response, the teacher who uploaded the letter penned her side of the story in a Facebook post.

She shared her perspective as an educator, pointing out the hours of work that goes on behind each lesson.

"Perhaps he should be enlightened as to the number of hours we spend crafting online learning materials for the various classes under our charge; meeting our students for ‘live’ lessons during their curriculum time whilst concurrently checking on their health and mental well-being."

Teachers also need to overcome learning curves during this period, she added, as they had to learn new methods of teaching, familiarise themselves with new teaching apps, and work their way through technical glitches.

"Of course, all these done to reassure parents like this certain Mr Tay that we stay committed to bring about quality learning for his children," she wrote.

You can read her post in full here:

Facebook users empathise with teacher

Several Facebook users have commented on the teacher's Facebook post and empathised with her.

Some gave suggestions for parents to help support their children through the HBL period.

Top image via Facebook user