Siblings In Sabah Climb Hill Every Day To Have Internet Access For Online Classes

Three siblings from Kampung Gana in Ranau, Sabah have to climb a hill every day in order to have internet access for their online classes.

According to Berita Harian, Joshua Emmanuel Jeffery, 12, Jordon Emmanuel, 9, and Joshean Emmanuel Jeffery, 8 would take 10 minutes to travel about 500 meters to reach the location behind their grandmother’s house every morning at about 8.30am.

However, Joshua, the eldest of the three, said he was still excited and happy with this experience.

“My siblings and I will be on the hill for almost three hours to take online classes with teachers or to practice,” said the Year Six student of Anglo Chinese National School (C).

He added that this was possible as his father had created a space on the hill to study so that he and his siblings could attend their online classes.

His father, Jeffery Joseph, 41, said he started thinking of creating a learning space for his children on Friday (15 January), a few days before the opening of the 2021 schooling period.

“We actually used to live in Kota Kinabalu but returned to this village since December last year (2020) because the children are more comfortable being here,” he said.

“This village has had telecommunication problems for a long time. Only certain locations in this village have access if you want to make a phone call or surf the internet.”

“When the children needed to attend online classes, I had to think of solutions so that they do not have to walk far every time they want to learn.”

“I did a survey around the hill where there is a rubber plantation at the back of the house and found that the telephone and internet networks can be obtained at that location.”

Jeffery, who is a Bahasa Melayu teacher at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Buayan, Penampang, said he’s been cleaning up the surrounding area and building chairs and tables from bamboo for his children to use while studying virtually.

Jeffery’s children aren’t the only ones who’ve had to travel to certain locations to get internet access in order to attend online classes. We hope that the authorities will look into this matter, especially when most students have to stay home during the Movement Control Order (MCO).

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