KUALA LUMPUR: The RM1.55 billion Phase 2 of 1BestariNet project did not give “value for money” to the ministry of education (MoE) due to high operating costs and low usage among pupils and teachers, as revealed in the Auditor-General’s Report 2018 Series 1, following a review of the project’s performance and management.

While the contractor of the project was not named in the report, a company search identified it as bearing the company number 793634-V, belonging to YTL Communications Sdn Bhd.

“The implementation objectives of 1BestariNet Phase 2 were not achieved based on low key performance indicators (KPIs) of Frog VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) usage among pupils and learning sites preparation by teachers in 2018,” said the audit report.

“In addition, the Frog VLE usage among teachers was also very low, between 11.5% and 31.3% of the entire population of teachers.”

According to frogasia.com, owned by a YTL company, Frog VLE is “an award-winning, cloud-based virtual learning environment designed by Frog Education to simplify and enhance teaching and learning, communication and administration”.

The low usage contrasts sharply with the high costs of providing the facility for the VLE, implemented in December 2011.

Overall, 36.3% of 10,185 schools with access to the system did not achieve the Frog VLE usage KPI in 2018, while 42.8% or 950 of 2,222 teachers from 42 schools sampled did not even access the system.

The audit also opined that the information and communications technology (ICT) equipment made available to support the Frog VLE-based learning was below par, contributing to the low utilisation.

“In addition, financial restrictions had prevented ICT equipment procurement. Issues relating to finances, equipment, infrastructure, school demographics, and the ‘big bang’ implementation for urban and rural schools without considering the above factors undermined the pursuit of 1BestariNet objectives,” said the audit.

Interestingly, RM1.69 million was paid for the Frog VLE service at 35 schools even though the service was not used at all between July 2016 and November 2018.

Also, between October 2018 and March 2019, 9,822 schools received the 1BestariNet connectivity in Phase 2, exceeding the 90-school target in the contract execution timeline.

“However, the selection of 1,000 schools for network upgrades to fibre technology was not done according to justifications set in the contract. This caused some schools, which under-utilised the Frog VLE, to be chosen for upgrades,” said the report.

In response to the audit’s findings, the ministry said challenges faced by teachers included insufficient time available for various tasks.

“The ministry of education also did not implement any policy [requiring] teachers to use

the Frog VLE, but stressed that this service provided is among the best methods in PDP (teaching and learning),” the ministry said.

Phase 2 of 1BestariNet is a continuation of the previous phase, which originally encompassed 10,000 schools between Dec 13, 2011 and June 12, 2014.

The contract, worth RM663 million then, was signed on May 7, 2012. In the 2½-year period, two supplementary agreements were inked, representing a cost increase of RM2.09 million in total.