The closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown the education of many, especially those with limited access to the internet, into dissaray.

With just two mobile phones, and one wonky data connection, the Krishnan sisters in Georgetown, Penang, are among those affected, reported Free Malaysia Today (FMT).

The sisters, aged between 18 and 10, have found it almost impossible to carry on with their studies after schools were closed last month, due to the lack of access to steady internet for online lessons.

"We give up sometimes because we can barely hear what the teacher is saying. Sometimes I don't even show up," the eldest girl, Annal Krishnan, who is in Form Six, told the portal.

She is the only one in the family with a prepaid data plan on her phone. She shares the spotty connection with her sister Joyhanna, 16, who uses an old phone with a broken screen, while the other sisters, Lili, 13, Joisse, 11, and Emimal, 10, are forced to revise on their own using their textbooks and other materials.

With the RM1,300 monthly salary drawn from working as a security guard, their father Krishnan Doraisamy, 52, can afford an internet plan, let alone a laptop. His wife Ratnadevi Maniam, 45, is a housewife.

Krishnan also has diabetes and needs insulin shots, as does their youngest child Emimal, who inherited the disease.

The family, which lives at a rented city council flat in Jalan Dato Keramat, also receives social welfare aid of RM650 and an occassional RM600 donation from the Buddhist Tzu-Chi Merits Society.

The sisters are in bad need of a reliable internet connection and a laptop to continue their studies.

Those who wish to help the family may WhatsApp FMT Helpline at 0193899839.


Source: FMT
Photo source: FMT