Schools in Remote Regions Cannot Hold Online Classes

Online learning is impossible for students in remote regions as more than 47,000 education facilities do not have access to electricity and internet.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Students go to Temulawak Hill at Petir B Hamlet, Petir village, Rongkop district, Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta, to send school assignments online, Tuesday (12/5/2020). It was the only location in the village with an internet signal.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Minimal electricity and internet infrastructure is the main obstacle for online learning in schools in remote regions. Furthermore, many parents cannot purchase gadgets to support their children’s online learning.

In Papua, the Papua state education quality control agency (LPMP) recorded 14 regions without online learning at all during the Covid-19 pandemic. These regions include Puncak, Puncak Jaya, Yalimo, Central Mamberamo, Dogiyai, Deiyai, Intan Jaya, Lanny Jaya, Nduga, Asmat, Boven Digoel, Yahukimo, Pegunungan Bintang and Greater Mamberamo.

“Internet is lacking in these 14 provinces,” Papua LPMP head Adrian Howay said in Jayapura on Sunday (12/7/2020).

Also read: Effectiveness of Learning at Home

Therefore, online learning is only doable in large cities such as Jayapura and Mimika. Even in cities, not all parents are able to buy cell phones and provide internet credits for their children to follow online learning.

From LPMP Papua’s survey in 915 schools in April 2020, only 45.9 percent could participate in online learning. The rest learn offline or have had instruction completely cancelled.

Agats bishop Mgr. Aloysius Murwito OFM said his organization would begin in-person classes at all branches of the Catholic Schooling and Education Foundation (YPPK) in Asmat regency on Monday (13/7). The reason is that schools cannot hold online learning due to unreliable internet. In Asmat, YPPK owns one kindergarten, 20 elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school.

Also read : Optimizing Online Learning

“We want Asmat children to be able to return and study. Schools at the regency capital and in districts have resumed learning activities with strict health protocols. Schools in remote regions hold regular classes but must maintain cleanliness, such as hand washing,” he said.

KOMPAS/IWAN SETIYAWAN

Naira (left) and Raina, first graders at SD Dharma Karya elementary school in South Tangerang, reda Islamic Religious Education materials while taking a year-end assessment exam online at their home in Cinangka, Sawangan, Depok, West Java, on Tuesday (2/6/2020). Online exams are being held because schools remain closed due to social restrictions to prevent COVID-19 transmission.

Distance learning is also impossible in Maluku. Apart from lack of internet access, some families cannot purchase gadgets to help children study.

“In [Aru Islands regency capital] Dobo, internet is slow, let alone in villages. In villages, even a cell signal is difficult to get,” Aru Islands youth figure Mila Ganobal said.

Also read : No Need to Reopen Schools Hastily

The Aru Islands comprise 547 islands. The area has 117 villages spread over 10 districts and a population of 113,000. A majority of people here live below the poverty line. During the pandemic, people’s finances were hit.

A similar condition can be found on Seira Island, Tanimbar Islands regency, Maluku. For elementary school, teachers are required to visit students’ homes one by one.

“Middle school and high school students are a little harder. Those living far from schools are hoped to be able to study on their own. There is no interaction with teachers,” Priest Devi P Lopulalan, religious figure in Seira.

Also read : Wisely Extending Online Learning

In Lampung, Raden Intan Bandar Lampung aviation vocational school principal Suprihatin said that not all students had gadgets for online learning. A majority of learning activities are done through WhatsApp or Zoom.

Kompas/Priyombodo

A student at Al-Bayan Islamic School, Tangerang City, Banten, doing the work of the teacher while studying at home (home learning), Tuesday (17/3/2020). School students in the Jabodetabek area and several other provinces in Indonesia must study at home following the government\'s policy to temporarily close schools in an effort to prevent the transmission of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Students without gadgets are asked to go to school to take assignments from teachers. Students then return the completed assignments through email.

Difficulties to provide gadgets for online learning is also experienced by families in the capital. Siti Munafiah of Manggarai subdistrict in Tebet, South Jakarta, had no idea what to do when her son’s teacher said that classes would go online in March. Fortunately, another parent found out the family’s condition and offered Siti an unused gadget for Rp 350,000.

For her son, Siti was willing to use her savings to buy the gadget. “It is okay that the screen is damaged. What’s important is that my son can study like his friends,” said the mother of 12-year-old Ilham Maulidin, a student of SDN Kebon Manggis 01 Pagi state elementary school in Jakarta.

A Kompas R&D poll on 563 respondents in 16 major cities across Indonesia on 6-8 July 2020 also found issues of technology limitations among students. A third of respondents said intermittent and slow internet connection was the major issue while 28 percent of respondents found it difficult to purchase internet credits and a quarter of respondents did not have gadgets.

Also read: Online Learning is Safer for Students and Teachers

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

Wearing her school uniform, Agda Baline Swarahati, a 4th grade student of Santo Antonius Elementary School from Padua, works on Physical, Sports, and Health (PJOK) subject during the year-end assessment, which is followed from her house in Nusa Loka, BSD City, South Tangerang, Banten, Tuesday (9/6/2020). The Covid-19 pandemic has forced children to follow all instruction from home.

Without internet and electricity

Education and Culture Ministry data as of April 2020 showed that 40,779 elementary and middle schools, or 18 percent of the total amount, did not have internet access. Meanwhile, 3 percent or 7,552 did not have electricity. Students’ access to online learning at home can be even lower as they do not have gadgets or laptops and internet credit.

“It is very difficult when remote regions have no internet access and electricity but they have Covid-19. Online learning is impossible and in-person classes are prohibited,” said Agus Sartono, the deputy of education and religious affairs coordination at the Office of the Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister.

We need to find our own way as there is no single platform that is suitable for all schools.

A survey by lecturers at the Bandung-based Padjadjaran University’s psychology faculty on 867 parents, students and teachers in Bandung on 8-14 June 2020 showed that 19.6 percent of respondents said they were concerned, 12.5 percent said they were bored, nine percent said they would lose the ability to understand lessons and 8.3 percent said they would need vacations if online learning is extended.

The survey clearly shows how online learning has negatively affected students. They have to adjust academically, experience limited social interactions and possibly negative emotions.

Also read : Looking at Reopening Schools During a Pandemic

“Psychological aspects such as these cannot be neglected. Irregularities and the absence of tools to measure online learning, including the lack of curriculum and the simplification of basic competence, can negatively affect students. Their academic ability can drop,” Padjadjaran University psychological faculty lecturer Annisa Lestari Kadiyono said.

Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makarim said he understood the criticism against online learning during the pandemic. “I agree with all the criticism 100 percent but we have no option right now. We need to find our own way as there is no single platform that is suitable for all schools,” he said.

For students without internet access, the ministry offers the Study from Home program in collaboration with state-owned television station TVRI.

(VIO/FLO/FRN/FRD/IKA/MED/TAN)