Not Safe Yet to Reopen Schools
Normal learning activities will gradually resume at schools starting on Jan. 1, 2021.
Normal learning activities will gradually resume at schools starting on Jan. 1, 2021. However, many teachers are not ready to resume in-person classes, since they believe schools are not safe yet from Covid-19 transmission.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Regional administrations may allow schools to recommence in-person classes starting on Jan. 1, 2021. However, several factors have to be considered carefully.
Seventy-six percent of teachers are worried about the safety of students, teachers and parents from Covid-19 infections if normal school activities are resumed amid the pandemic, according to research conducted by Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) in collaboration with the Education and Culture Ministry and Predikt from Aug. 18 to Sept. 5, 2020.
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Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim said schools might hold in-person classes by first obtaining a permit from regional administrations/regional offices/regional branches of the Religious Affairs Ministry, followed by a permit from education units and individual parents.
Such a requirement was announced by Nadiem during a virtual press conference on Friday (20/11/2020) called the Guidelines for the Implementation of Learning Activities in the Even Semester of the 2020/2021 Academic Year during the Covid-19 Pandemic. The guidelines are stipulated in a joint ministerial decree released by the Education and Culture Ministry, the Religious Affairs Ministry, the Health Ministry and the Home Ministry.
Now, regional administrations, which are believed to have the best understanding about regional conditions, needs and capacities, have the authority to grant permits for the resumption of in-person classes.
A Covid-19 transmission zones map used as a reference in the two previous joint ministerial decrees is no longer valid. Now, regional administrations, which are believed to have the best understanding about regional conditions, needs and capacities, have the authority to grant permits for the resumption of in-person classes.
Nadiem added that several factors had to be considered by regional administrations in issuing permits. This includes transmission risks in each region, the preparedness of health facilities, the preparedness of education units in conducting in-person classes, access to distance learning as well as the psychosocial conditions of students.
Not ready
The coordinator of the WVI Education Team, Mega Indrawati, said 76 percent of teachers had concerns over the safety of students, teachers and parents if schools were reopened. Teachers are also worried that it may not be possible to carry out in-person learning activities comfortably and effectively amid the pandemic.
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These findings were obtained from a study conducted by the WVI in collaboration with the Education and Culture Ministry and Predikt, which involved 27,046 teachers across 34 provinces. “This research was designed to discover the perceptions and viewpoints of
teachers as well as education staff pertaining to school reopening under the new normal scheme,” said Mega.
Ninety-five percent of the teachers surveyed said they preferred remote learning and/or a combination of learning methods. Almost half of the respondents (45 percent) expressed hope that learning activities amid the pandemic would be carried out in a combination of in-person classes and remote learning.
“If permitted, we will hold in-person learning activities in a gradual manner while also enforcing physical distancing rules. In this regard, in-person classes will be carried out one day per week. Students will be divided into several classes, with approximately 100 students in total,” said Yuliatin, an elementary school teacher in Wamena, Jayawijaya, Papua.
An even bigger challenge lies in reopening pre-schools and schools for disabled children. “Once in-person classes are resumed, students will inevitably play together. Maintaining physical distancing will be difficult,” said Happy Christina, a preschool teacher in PAUD Baluse Terpadu, South Nias regency, North Sumatra.
Proceed with caution
Responding to the challenges that lie ahead, Satriwan Salim, coordinator of the Association for Education and Teachers, recommended to continue remote learning until the end of the academic year 2020/2021 and to base one’s decisions on the results of Covid-19 transmission zoning. It would be better as well to continue remote learning until the clinical trials of candidate vaccines finish and the vaccines are proven effective.
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According to Satriwan, the implementation of the two previous joint ministerial decrees appeared too lenient toward education units that violated protocols or reopened schools without fulfilling the requirements first. This could jeopardize the health and safety of teachers, students and their families.
There are only few regional administrations that truly care about health protocols and infrastructures.
“I think it might be dangerous that the new joint ministerial decree puts too much focus on regional administrations’ authority. There are only few regional administrations that truly care about health protocols and infrastructures,” said Indonesian Child Protection Commission commissioner Retno Listyarti.
Meanwhile, epidemiologist Dicky Budiman of Dicky Budiman asserted that epidemiological data still had to be used as a point of reference for authorizing regional administrations to manage the issuance of permits for school reopening. Based on the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, school reopening must take into account the number of confirmed cases within a certain period of time in the school environment, with the ideal situation being 1 case per 100,000 people in which possible transmissions could be easily brought under control.
Other than that, the positivity rate must be also less than 5 percent in two consecutive weeks. “If schools are reopened when the number of Covid-19 confirmed cases is still high, students and teachers will likely infect each other,” said Dicky.