A policy challenge in the nation of Singapore is showing some of the more difficult aspects of managing education during a pandemic.
As in many other countries, Singapore students are largely learning at home. This policy minimizes some of the spread that threatens the health of citizens – but it also leads to questions on just how digital learning is and should be provided.
At issue is a privacy policy – Singapore’s government is equipping students learning devices with software that would reveal their search history and other information to outside auditors, and that has the Human Rights Watch crying foul about invasion of personal privacy.
“The rule lacks safeguards to protect against intrusions into children’s private lives,” writes Hye Jung Han for the global watchdog agency. “Schools have broad discretion in deciding which websites to block or search terms to flag, without needing to inform parents or students. In a country known for its severe restrictions on the right to freedom of expression, including on issues of race, religion, and LGBT rights, the lack of definition over what constitutes “objectionable material,” and the lack of transparency in how these decisions are made, undermines children’s ability to speak freely and access information.”
Also, from a total national population of around 6 million, over 6,600 students and others have signed a petition asking the government to reconsider. Part of the petition reads:
“We students are unhappy that the (national Ministry of Education) requires such a program to be installed on our PLDs, be it our personal ones or ones purchased from the school, due to how little control, freedom, and privacy we have. This may also put many students information and data at risk to hackers, as they can easily access the data if such program is breached.”
To some outsiders, this type of controversy may not be that surprising for a country previously known for the practice of ‘caning’ common criminals by hitting them with a wooden cane.
However, in this case, Singapore’s Ministry of Education is claiming that the policy does not compromise personal data.
“MOE’s divisional director of educational technology, Aaron Loh, said in the report that the device management software had been installed during a trial held in 2019, during which parents and teachers ‘affirmed the benefits and need’ for the DMA,” writes Eileen Yu for By the Way in a piece posted to ZDNet. “The software, he said, would ensure teachers had ‘appropriate controls’ to manage device use in classrooms.”
Even U.S. tech companies now face serious challenges around user privacy. Follow these imbroglios as we move forward, because they could impact tech markets substantially.
