Opening Schools during the Pandemic

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.

The government is planning to reopen all schools at the beginning of the 2021/2022 school year in July, following a decline in COVID-19 cases in the country.

The government has also implemented a vaccination program for teachers and education workers. Therefore, a number of regions have started to prepare to reopen schools by conducting face-to-face learning trials. There are even regions that are hoping to begin in-person education in April 2021 and are therefore hoping to complete vaccinations for teachers and education personnel by March.

Students, who number 10 times more than teachers, have not yet been vaccinated.

Even though they support the COVID-19 vaccination program, many teachers hope that the government does not use this program as the basis for reopening schools (Kompas, 18/3/2021). Herd immunity in school surroundings will not formed just because teachers and education personnel are vaccinated. Students, who number 10 times more than teachers, have not yet been vaccinated.

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Opening schools during the pandemic is not a question of when but how to open them safely. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we interact and has drastically changed the prevailing method of education.

DINAS PENDIDIKAN KOTA SURABAYA

A junior high school in Surabaya, East Java, Monday (7/12/2020), held a learning system simulation that combined face-to-face and online during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Even if the pandemic can be overcome, the situation will not be able to fully return to what it was before the pandemic.

A letter of agreement among four ministers regarding guidelines for education in the even semester of the 2020/2021 academic year, during the pandemic, provides a reference for how to open schools during the pandemic, including providing health infrastructure and ensuring compliance with health protocols to encourage the adoption of new habits.

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There are still many schools that have not met these requirements. Data from the Education and Culture Ministry on learning readiness shows that only 280,372, or 52.44 percent, of schools have satisfied the list for teaching and learning readiness during the pandemic, and only 10 percent are ready.

Even though it is not yet fully effective, the use of technology for education, which has grown rapidly during the pandemic, remains a necessity.

In addition to technical preparations related to the implementation of health protocols, schools must also prepare learning methods. Schools cannot be fully opened and face-to-face activities will be carried out using a shift system. Mixed learning is a solution. Even though it is not yet fully effective, the use of technology for education, which has grown rapidly during the pandemic, remains a necessity.

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The challenges for schools and teachers include designing and delivering face-to-face learning and distance learning (PJJ), online or by giving assignments, simultaneously. The lesson plans include efforts to help students who have been left behind during PJJ. School closures have an impact on learning loss, learning poverty and even dropping out of school, especially among poor students and those who are hindered by PJJ.

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

A teacher undergoes a health check before getting a Covid-19 vaccine shot during a vaccinations for high school teachers at SMAN 70 Jakarta on Wednesday. The event was attended by 600 teachers and education staff. The vaccination program has come to the second batch, targeting elderly people and those employed in the public sector, such as market vendors, educators (teachers, lecturers), religious leaders, lawmakers, government officials and state institutions.

Without preparation, reopening schools will not be able to prevent greater losses and will not fix the learning loss during the pandemic. The government must be ready to expand access to digital technology so that teachers and students can maximize the use of technology for education. As many as 12,548 villages and subdistricts do not have access 4G internet service, and not all students have internet-capable devices.

(This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo).