PETALING JAYA: Bad Internet connectivity in public universities has caused students to miss out on learning and resort to using their mobile data for access.
Universiti Sains Malaysia final year student Jessica Subramanian, 23, said that connectivity problems happen at critical times, such as during exam periods and assignment deadlines.
“The interruptions can be frustrating, especially when we need reliable Internet access for online tutorials and group discussions,” she said, adding that it has made it hard to keep up with studies.
While it’s reassuring that the government is addressing Internet issues at universities, she hopes by next year, all universities will have easy and reliable access to the Internet.
A recent graduate from Universiti Putra Malaysia Er Zekai said that his hostel room was far from the WiFi modem, which prevented him from accessing the Internet.
“I had to use my own data in my hostel,” said the 24-year-old.
During the pandemic year, Er’s class was conducted online, and he could not catch the lectures at all because the Internet connection was very poor.
“We needed to look for resources online also, and a bad WiFi connection affected the progress and made it more difficult to study,” he said.
He added that as the UPM campus was big, many areas did not have adequate Internet coverage.
A second-year student from Universiti Malaya who wishes to be known as Chen said that the Internet on campus was only suitable for documents.
“If it is for videos, the loading time will be very slow,” she said, adding that she relied on videos and online lectures for learning.
She said that especially near study week, friends from her hostel would also be complaining about slow Internet speeds.
“Now, I only use my own mobile data because it is much faster,” she said.
She is glad that the government is addressing the issue and hopes to have good WiFi by February during her exam season.
Poor Internet connectivity in public universities is not new; many students have complained about it.
Berita Harian reported that student unions have spoken up on the issue, especially in universities’ residential hostels.
