KINABATANGAN: A teacher in Kinabatangan is using a boat as his classroom so his pupils don’t miss their lessons during the pandemic, when face-to-face teaching and learning cannot be held.

       Nasir Mohamed Jamal, 39, of SK Desa Permai, also uses the boat to send learning modules to his pupils every week.

       “My other colleagues and I take the initiative to send Teaching and Learning at Home (PdPR) modules by boat once or twice a week to the pupils.

       “This is because conducting PdPR is impossible since we do not have (good) Internet or broadband service,” he said in an interview.

       With a bag containing the PdPR modules and a foldable table, Nasir, who teaches Science, Physical Education and Health Education, rows the wooden boat along Sungai Kinabatangan to his pupils’ houses.

       There is no jetty along the river for him to get off the boat, so he has to be careful when manoeuvring in the shallow water along the riverbank to pick up his pupils.

       He would take their body temperature, as well as provide hand sanitisers and face masks, when the pupils get into the boat to begin their lesson.

       Nasir, who is from Padang Rengas, Perak, and has been with SK Desa Permai for 10 years, said the situation in the interior areas made him and the other teachers at the school more determined to ensure their students do not miss their lessons.

       “We remind the pupils of the importance of education and for them to further their studies to succeed in life and bring changes to their community,” he added. — Bernama