IT was Friday and the 6-year-old homeschooler was already seated in front of his laptop, which used to be his mother's work laptop, awaiting the early-morning registration before the start of his e-learning session.
During registration, he could hear the familiar voice of his teacher, and see and wave at his classmates that he readily admits he misses so much.
However, his eagerness for Fridays to come stemmed from the fact that his teacher will announce the Star of the Week — the award given to pupils who had consistently registered on time, handed in their work early and had done their online work well.
It has been three weeks since British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that all schools would be closed on Jan 4 after the Christmas break as the coronavirus was still raging. Iskandar was clearly disappointed.
At this young age, he has experienced three lockdowns, being kept out of school last year and had been deprived of children his age to play with. However, he has taken it in his stride.
The recognition announced last Friday that he had once again clinched the Star of the Week title reflects that he had embraced the new normal quite well. It would be a lie to say that it was easy — for Iskandar, as well as for his mother, who takes over the role as his teacher once registration is over and tasks have been assigned.
For all the enthusiasm that he has, Iskandar still needs guidance, self-discipline and stimulus that a classroom offers. The daily tasks that he is given ensures that he is filling up his time at home learning something.
There are opportunities to exercise his arms and fingers in preparation for handwriting exercises, and there's the singalong at the end of the day, together with his friends, that is uploaded and shared. But in between, there are recorded instructions for him to take pictures of his work and upload them to be assessed.
Iskandar is lucky because using a laptop is not an issue. There are several laptops and iPads in the house. He also has a mother who is still on furlough and could spend time coaching and motivating him when he becomes bored and tired.
He has her full attention. Not the same for others. It has been reported that a majority of children here are struggling to learn at home during the lockdown.
According to the Office for National Statistics, of the 52 per cent who struggled, three-quarters of parents gave a lack of motivation as a reason.
Children, especially in primary schools, are too young to have the motivation and self-discipline to work on their own. Lack of laptops, tablets that are necessary for e-learning, is a major problem, on top of parents having to deal with children fighting for attention at the same time.
We are talking about parents who are not trained as teachers but having to take on the role to give some sort of education to their children. Working parents have reported that the requirement to homeschool had affected their job.
The pressure is even more for the parents and children who are older and sitting exams. The pandemic and ensuing lockdowns caused a lot of disruptions in schools and colleges.
One can only imagine how this episode will manifest in their future careers. Exam boards have given the assurance that they will take into account some of the lost learning.
Next summer's exams will be delayed, yet again, and there have been calls for head teachers to ensure that assessments are done fairly for the pupils.
Letting the children back in school is not a solution either, especially as more variants of the virus are being discovered. When schools reopened after the second lockdown last year, many of our friends contracted the killer disease from their children, who caught the virus in schools.
While Iskandar yearns to go to school and be with his friends again, in his young mind, he does understand the danger and risks of going out. In between classes, he sits behind the net curtain looking out of the window.
He does not expect his uncle or his aunty and cousin to visit, but he just sits there for a while. In his prayers, he asks Allah to keep the virus away from his classmates.
He misses the hot chocolate that Stars of the Week get on Fridays, but he is looking forward for the postman to come with that certificate with his name on it.