Pandemic Widens Education Gap

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Students use the free Jak WiFi internet facility provided by the Jakarta provincial administration to follow the online distance learning (PJJ) education policy on Wednesday (2/9/2020) at the RT 05/RW 02 community unit hall in Galur subdistrict, Johar Baru district, Central Jakarta.

The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the disparity in education services in Indonesia. Those who have enough facilities develop well; on the contrary, those who have less are left behind.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — It is believed that the pandemic is not the causal factor, but a "magnifying glass" of the disparity in education services in Indonesia, which is increasingly widening. This disparity in educational services occurs not only between regions but also within regions. This reflects the socioeconomic inequalities in Indonesian society.

Widya Mandala Catholic University professor Anita Lie said that long before the COVID-19 pandemic, Indonesian children have long suffered from a lack of education. Based on data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank, the length of study in Indonesia’s field of education is 12.4 years. However, this is not in line with the average learning achievement, which is 7.8 years of study.

"Learning at school does not only cover a wide range of materials but also the skills or competencies of students," said Anita during a Kompas Dedicated Scholar webinar series titled "Learning Amid the Pandemic" in Jakarta, Friday (05/18/2019).

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According to Anita, based on research on teachers in four provinces regarding the implementation of distance learning (PJJ) from before the pandemic to the pandemic, a wide spectrum was found. There are teachers who do not implement distance learning because the students and teachers do not have access to the internet and communication tools.

If teachers were accustomed to practicing the student-centered learning process, PJJ can help make learning activities more fun.

The shift from offline learning to online learning also does not change the learning model much. If teachers were accustomed to practicing the student-centered learning process, PJJ can help make learning activities more fun. On the other hand, many teachers still practice the lecturing method, so PJJ ends up being more like a webinar with the teacher talking a lot, or a one-way teaching process.

DOKUMENTASI KOMPAS

Widya Mandala Catholic University professor Anita Lie.

The digital divide is becoming more and more evident during the pandemic. Schools that serve children from the middle and upper economic class and are not constrained by internet access can develop well with PJJ. On the other hand, children with internet access constraints will be left behind.

"Children who were excluded during this pandemic had been excluded from educational services before the pandemic," said the recipient of the 2018 Kompas Dedicated Intellectuals Award.

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Disparities in educational services happen both between regions and within regions. The indicator is not whether the children study at a public- or private-run school, whether they are located in urban or rural areas or if the school is a recipient of operational assistance (BOS).

“The indicator is the socioeconomic class of the parents," said Anita.

For example, at a private school in Nabire, Papua, online learning is smooth because this school caters to a group of upper-middle economic-class students. On the other hand, in Sidoarjo, East Java, there are teachers who rarely hold PJJ via video conferencing because their students do not have internet access.

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.

Anita hopes that the disparities and learning loss that have occurred in education will not deepen and go unaddressed. The experience of this pandemic must be used to improve the quality of learning, especially in terms of educational pedagogy, both face-to-face and online.

Multidimensional inequality

In a webinar celebrating the sixth Anniversary of the Indonesian Academy of Young Scientists (ALMI) themed, Indonesia Is a Developed Country in 2045, What Do Scientists Say?, some time ago, a scientist from the University of Indonesia, Teguh Dartanto, also said that the pandemic exacerbated multidimensional inequality in Indonesia. Now the gap is amplified due to the digital divide.

KOMPAS/MEDIANA

Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim.

Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim said during the webinar that educational transformation through the freedom to learn can bring breakthroughs to create fairness in education services. Fairness does not mean similar or uniform for all regions.

(This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswoko).