The Free Online School jointly operated by the Pa-O National Federal Council (PNFC) and the Ministry of Education (MoE) of National Unity Government (NUG) has enhanced its technical security measures to protect staff and students.
The real identities of the teachers and students are fully protected by the use of secret codes, to ensure that there is no breach of online security in teaching and learning, a school official explained.
“About 90 percent of those who applied to the school contacted us through the online page. If they inquire to enroll through the chat box, we send them the Google forms. These forms are then verified and accepted by one of our IT technicians.
The codes are then issued to the students. We also allow the use of aliases or fake names (we do not use official names) when filling out the forms. The important thing is to make sure to fill in the grade and subjects required on the form. Based on this information, the code number is generated.
The IT technicians will then contact the teachers and students through Telegram phone numbers, to confirm that they are PNFC certified students and teachers. Only those who have been verified will have access to the Telegram Group.
The PNFC school will not repeat mistakes made at the Kaung for You Federal School in July which led to arrests and has tightened security measures to avoid any kind of repetition officials explained.
The "Telegram Group” will provide orientation on the rules to be followed when connecting to the Zoom meeting. If the meeting host finds out that a certain the teacher is disobeying the rules, the meeting host can remove the teacher. Those who do not know the code number cannot join the meeting. We can also remove the students who use two codes. Everyone can teach or learn without knowing who are the other students participating in the zoom meeting”, he added.
The Interim Basic Education Free Online School jointly implemented by the PNFC and the Ministry of Education (MoE) of NUG opened on October 14. Officials said 17 CDM teachers are now teaching high school GRADE 10 (new system) and GRADE 11 (old system) at the free online school
Due to the lack of teachers, primary and secondary courses cannot be taught at the moment. Officials said that the CDM teachers are not yet able to receive a normal salary, and only receive 50000 kyat per month from the school.
Although the school is now open online, only a fraction of the student population is able to attend yet, due to the internet connection difficulties, and the lack of familiarity with the Zoom technology. Currently only 35 students in Grade 11, and about 20 in Grade 10 are joining the online classes.
PNFC's Interim Basic Education Free Online School is not exclusively opened for Pa-O ethnic students only. Like other NUG-operated schools, federal schools and schools under the Military Council administration, all ethnicities can attend.
NUG will also assist the students in planning to continue their higher education if they pass the examinations administered by NUG, the officials said.
