TANAH MERAH: A father has set up a tent on top of a 20m-high hillock for his undergraduate daughter to participate in online learning sessions due to the poor internet and telecommunications coverage in their village.
Nurlieda Khaleeda Mohd Azmi, 20, a second-year medical laboratory technology student with Universiti Malaya, said she used to go to town some 3km away just to get a decent internet connection for her studies.
However, when a partial lockdown under a conditional movement control order was enforced in Kelantan from Nov 21, her father, Mohd Azmi Ahmad, 48, decided to set up the tent for her, she told reporters at her house in Bukit Petai Tujuh here today.
Azmi also placed some chairs and a table in the tent, which is about 30m from their house.
Nurlieda Khaleeda said she used the classroom almost every day during the CMCO, but not at night because of the risk of being exposed to venomous animals such as snakes.
She also brought along her laptop and wireless modem and would spend about two to three hours a day in the tent to undergo learning sessions or sit for examinations.
“What worries me most is that I’m currently sitting for examinations from Nov 23 until Dec 3. I have to switch on my handphone camera to allow the lecturers to monitor me.
“I am quite stressed with the intermittent internet connection in the village which makes it difficult for me to sit for my examinations. In fact, the two hours provided were insufficient due to the unstable connection. If the internet disconnects, I have to start over and no additional time is given,” said the eldest of five siblings.
Azmi said he would accompany his daughter at the tent until she finished her class or examinations.
“Especially now, as it is raining every day. The tent is uncomfortable, but we have no choice for the sake of her future. This is not a problem that only we face, but also other students in higher education institutions and schools,” he said.
Azmi said the problems with internet and telecommunications coverage was nothing new, and those in five nearby villages also faced a similar predicament. “In fact, some have even built tree houses to get better coverage.”