Advancing Digital Equity in Malaysia: An Interview with Dr. Wagheeh Shukry Hassan

In an exclusive interview, Dr. Wagheeh Shukry Hassan, former Deputy Director of Learning Platforms in the Educational Technology and Resources Division at the Ministry of Education (MOE) Malaysia, shares insights on the nation's efforts to bridge the digital divide and promote digital literacy. Here are key takeaways from our conversation.

DELIMa amp; Digital Equity

Dr. Shukry oversees the Digital Educational Learning Initiative Malaysia (DELIMa), which began in July 2019 with Google Classroom. His role involves ensuring that digital learning platforms are accessible to all teachers and students across Malaysia.

Digital equity means providing equal access to digital tools and resources - i.e. narrowing the digital divide. Dr. Skukry emphasizes that online learning can deepen existing inequalities if not made accessible to everyone. “From the start, DELIMa adapted an equity approach striving to extend access to all teachers and students. As a result of these efforts, 99% of the teachers and 80% of students participate in DELIMa.”

Initiatives to Promote Digital Literacy

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has collaborated with organizations like UNICEF, Google, Microsoft, and Apple to promote digital literacy. For instance, UNICEF's Teacher Digital Learning Community aims to build teachers' capacities as effective remote educators. “To date, 3,999 teachers from 2,168 schools - of which 49% are from rural schools - have participated in the online teacher training with a reach of over 100,000.”

MOE's partnership with UNICEF ensures that underserved communities participate in digital learning. Programs like "Reimagine Education" and "Generation Unlimited" have pivoted through DELIMa, targeting mainstream and marginalized groups. The Future Skills for All (FS4A) initiative, with partners like MDEC and DiGi Telecommunications, has reached 34,000 unique users and seen 900,000 page-views, with a 40% completion rate. “Learning materials include sign language interpretation (in partnership with Malaysia Federation of the Deaf) and offline packs for marginalized groups.”

Impact

One notable initiative is the Global Citizenship Education (GCED) project, which strengthens 21st-century skills. It has been accessed over 19,000 times, with COVID-themed projects reaching over 80,000 participants. Additionally, the Voices of COVID Generation (VOCG) project, in partnership with UNICEF, received the UNESCO Wenhui Award Honourable Commendation for innovative educational responses to COVID. “Amplification of young people’s voices via the Voices of COVID Generation (VOCG) has been recognized for its impact.”

Overcoming Challenges

The primary challenges are connectivity and providing devices to students. Efforts to address these issues include creating Big Data repositories and developing over 100 dashboards to monitor usage and progress effectively. “The main challenges remain connectivity at school and the provision of devices for students to gain access to DELIMa.”

The pandemic has most notably accelerated digital literacy efforts. MOE plans to invest in Artificial Intelligence for personalized learning and increased participation. “MOE Malaysia will be investing heavily in Artificial Intelligence in the near future to provide personalized learning and other approaches to further enhance participation.”

Measuring Effectiveness

DELIMa is data-driven, with metrics such as logins and usage statistics ensuring transparency and tracking digital literacy progress. “We created Big Data (Big Query) as a repository for all important data and references. We developed over 100 dashboards to suit the needs of reporting and analytics for different users from the minister right down to the teachers with differentiated information and reports.”

Innovative Approaches

Innovations like the "Guru Future Skills" on TikTok have garnered significant engagement, with over 3 million views. The integration of sign language and offline learning packs ensures inclusivity. “Introduction of future skills on TikTok, i.e., Guru Future Skills, where video content is co-created with children, has garnered 14,500 followers and a total of more than 3 million views.”

Collaborations

Collaboration between government, private sector, and civil society is crucial. MOE's partnerships with agencies like the Prison Department and social enterprises ensure digital skills reach diverse communities. “MOE also works with other agencies like the Prison’s Department to include other communities and organizations (including social enterprises) to bring digital skills and competencies to students who are usually unable to have access to digital learning.”

MOE collaborates with international organizations like UNICEF, Google, and Microsoft to enhance digital equity. These partnerships bring new content, courses, and services to Malaysian educators and students. “We continually add on board new partnerships every quarter to ensure that new content, courses, services and applications are available for teachers and students.”

Upcoming Initiatives & Long-Term Goals

Future initiatives under the "Reimagine Education" initiative with UNICEF will include differentiated technologies for Special Educational Needs Schools, providing applications and services for the hearing impaired. “We are including Special Educational Needs Schools (government) throughout Malaysia to have differentiated technologies available to them.”

The new Digital Education Policy aims to provide holistic approaches to digital learning, ensuring participation across all demographics. “Ensuring that participation in digital learning is extremely important and as such the new Digital Education Policy recently announced will be providing holistic approaches to digital learning.”

Resources & Further Reading

Readers can find more information in reports from UNICEF and UNESCO on DELIMa, as well as various media publications. “There are a number of UNICEF and UNESCO reports on DELIMa, plus reports via the media.”

• UNICEF Malaysia 2021 COAR
• UNESCO Knowledge Hub on DELIMa
• Project ID on DELIMa
• Selangor Journal on DELIMa

Conclusion

Dr. Shukry highlights three key aspects of DELIMa: its comprehensive platform, the involvement of multiple partners, and its unified digital learning experience. “DELIMa shows us three main things as we look to transforming education for the future: one, the platform offers multiple applications and services; two, there are multiple technological and other partners involved in this platform; and three, it offers a single experience in teaching and learning online. In sum, our focus for DELIMa is to further enhance digital learning by democratization of learning by giving options for teachers and students towards digital learning and lifelong learning.”

Dr. Wagheeh Shukry Hassan

Former Deputy Director of Learning Platforms, Educational Technology and Resources Division, MOE Malaysia