Rural Households Lack Devices for Distance Learning|無網路.缺載具 偏鄉學生遠距上課有難度

COVID-19 has caused disruptions to school and work. Distance learning may be used to allow students to continue their studies at home. However, there are many students living in rural areas that lack the hardware and connections that allow them to learn remotely.


This is the village of the Kakawasan Tribe in Taitung County. Students spend their evenings at home doing their homework. Many of them don't have computers at home, so they need to borrow their parents' mobile phones in order to access the Internet. At times, the parent and child fight over who gets to use the phone. COVID-19 previously caused the government to delay the start of the school semester. If classes need to be suspended on a broad scale due to a worsening of the epidemic situation, distance learning may be the solution to allow students to continue their studies. However, there are many students living in rural areas or tribal villages that lack the necessary hardware and connections. Their parents have to work during the day, meaning the children can't use their phones to access lessons. The only possible solution is to take turns with the phones.

I normally don't have time to spend with him and help him with his studies via the phone.

They each get a turn of 20 minutes.

Schools are preparing for the eventuality that classes may be suspended due to the epidemic situation and practicing implementing distance learning. According to Ministry of Education statistics, the percentage of households with junior high or elementary school students in the six special municipalities that lack the hardware and connections necessary for distance learning is less than 20 percent. However, the percentage is much higher in the counties of Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien, and Taitung. The problem is especially serious in Taitung County, where the percentage of households without hardware and connections is the highest in the country. Tribal villages can enjoy free Internet via i-Trib, but oftentimes the connection quality is poor. Taitung County's Education Department says the Ministry of Education has already supplied 700 mobile phone numbers with Internet access, while the county has 2,000 mobile devices. It is capable of responding to a school closure on a small scale, but not on a large scale, which will then require rescheduling classes.

If classes are suspended for two weeks, it will require at least a week to make up the classes in person. In addition, distance learning is not very suitable for the lower grades.

The department adds what the county lacks the most right now is mobile devices, and anyone with surplus devices at home can consider lending them temporarily to the county government for the duration of the epidemic situation.



台東縣石川部落，晚上學童放學回到家，寫完功課，想看一下流行的網路資訊，但家裡又沒有電腦，得跟爸爸借用手機，兩個人共用一支上網搶著看。但如果疫情嚴重，學校停課，學校要用遠距教學，這種資訊設備缺乏的家庭學童，家長白天又要工作，可能就沒辦法上課，或是只能輪流使用手機。

家長 王先生表示：「因為我們平常也沒有時間，跟在他旁邊，教他看手機來上課。」

家長 張先生表示：「要讓他們去分配，就是說每個人，大概20分鐘這樣子而已。」

現在全國各學校都在因應疫情可能停課，實施遠距教學演練，不過，根據教育部統計，全國各縣市，六都中小學學生家中無遠距設備的比例低於20%，雲嘉屏和花東地區缺乏比例，卻相當高，其中又以台東縣無載具、無網路比例居全國之冠。部落裡就算有i-Trib免費網路，可是連線品質也不理想。台東縣教育處表示，教育部已提供7百個上網手機門號，加上縣內可調配的2千多部行動載具，可以應付小規模停課，但大規模停課，還是要靠補課。

台東縣教育處長 林政宏表示：「停課兩個禮拜，但是回來補課的時間，至少還是要一個禮拜來做實體補課。另外低年級的部分，也不太適合做線上教學。」

林政宏說，台東縣目前最欠缺的是行動載具，希望民眾家中有多餘二手手機，可以借給台東縣使用，等疫情結束再歸還。