Tata Consultancy Services sponsors laptops, broadband for students in Singapore

The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) has collaborated with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to partner the tech industry to support students from low-income households who do not have the computers for home-based learning (HBL). A ‘circuit breaker’ period announced in Singapore as part of a COVID-19 response has required students to stay home, and schools to deliver lessons online.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) sponsored new and refurbished laptops for 58 madrasah students from low-income households studying at Madrasah Irsyad Zuhri Al-Islamiah, Madrasah Al-Arabiah Al-Islamiah, Madrasah Al-Ma’arif Al-Islamiah and Madrasah Wak Tanjong Al-Islamia.. The sponsorship also covered mobile broadband connections for 14 students.

Under HBL teachers regularly do a check-in with students and parents through various platforms to ensure that the learning continues to take place at home in the best possible way and meet the desired learning outcomes.

Madrasahs have utilised various online educational tools (for example, Google Education, iTunes U, and other learning management systems) supplemented with hard-copy learning packages. Some madrasahs conduct ‘live’ lessons where students are required to log in and record their attendance, mirroring the usual classroom experience. Teachers may also have prerecorded lessons via Loom or YouTube.

Students are also required to take videos of themselves doing selected activities at home and upload them onto madrasahs’ learning management systems.

There are six full-time madrasahs in Singapore. They offer a curriculum that includes both religious and secular education.