This is mostly a rant. Our Ministry of Education (MOE) makes our students pay lots of money to buy a laptop and then cripple it so that basic things become so difficult to do. This is supposed to be a learning but instead becomes a struggle against rules and policies.
I’m referring to the Personal Learning Device, or PLD as our MOE calls it. It’s a laptop, which our students use for learning in school and after school. Since it is a laptop, and not like it’s free or subsidised, I expect to use it like any laptop.
Alas, our MOE sees the need to install a Device Management Application (DMA). It is supposed to ensure safe and responsible usage of the laptop by providing features such as web content filtering, application control, screen time limits, and parental monitoring. I know some parents want this. I understand that MOE needs to address the concerns of parents. I appreciate that MOE wants to accommodate a spectrum of requirements.
I feel that the responsible usage of the PLD has to come through education. The controls that DMA put in place are easily circumvented by any kid who is at least slightly resourceful. However, I understand, some parents want this, and that’s really up to them. I’m not even going to begin to change their mind about this.
However, the problem I have is that the DMA gets in the way of children who genuinely want to learn and explore. The DMA is too restrictive. No CMD command line is allowed? No PowerShell is allowed? These are not hacker utilities. If a student wants to learn scripting, automation, or just to learn about their Windows operating system, shouldn’t we allow and support that?
Even the popular Chrome browser is subject to DMA controls. It requires a browser profile logged in with the school’s account. What is wrong with using a personal Gmail account?
The students are supposed to use one account/profile “during school”, and another account/profile “after school”. Activities in these accounts are separate and distinct. This seems to be greatly inconvenient for students who want to use the after-school account at home to do all their work, including schoolwork, with less restrictions, because documents and various local content become inaccessible with the during-school account which they must use during school hours.
Worse, even with the after-school account used at home, there is still a browser restriction plugin that interferes with simple web browsing activities. I just want a plain, simple, Windows 11 laptop that works without DMA interference. Could such an option be provided? Can I just have a Windows 11 laptop that works like how Microsoft meant Windows 11 to work?
This isn’t my first kid having to live through a DMA-crippled laptop. Hence, I am familiar with some of the numerous problems, and particularly also the feedback from other parents who choose to keep some controls. For example, the “during school” restrictions become a hinderance when the child is not actually in school (e.g. on MC, HBL day after lessons are done). Other time restrictions become mucked up when the laptop crosses time zones.
Can there be an option to opt out of DMA? Actually, there is, and that is the option I’ve chosen, but it still comes with a myriad of controls and restrictions. I paid for the laptop. Please let me use it as I see fit. The DMA is basically like a rootkit, capable of destroying the laptop, and given fiasco with Mobile Guardian last year, I thought the MOE should take a lighter touch with how they manage PLDs.
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