"The case that happened in Kediri should become a concern for other regions that have the potential of COVID-19 transmission happening in schools that conduct face-to-face learning," he said in a written statement received here on Friday.
The DPDP speaker issued the release following reports of three students in Kediri, East Java, contracting COVID-19 during face-to-face learning.
According to him, monitoring the implementation of face-to-face learning should become everyone's concern that the learning and teaching process does not lead to a surge in COVID-19 cases among students.
The Education Office in each region should cooperate with the Health Office to undertake anticipatory measures and direct handling if virus transmission happens in school, he said.
Local governments must also improve the monitoring and supervision system for educational units that have implemented face-to-face learning, he added.
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Aside from monitoring and supervision, Mattalitti also pressed schools that are not ready to conduct face-to-face learning yet, not to be forced to implement it.
He also addressed the importance of support from parents for the successful implementation of face-to-face learning.
"I advise parents to have their children vaccinated so that the risk of COVID-19 transmission can be suppressed," he said.
Most importantly, health protocols should consistently be implemented, and parents must remind children to avoid crowds, he added.
He further said that existing schools' health facilities and infrastructure must be adequate to support the implementation of face-to-face learning.
The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Indonesia in March 2020. According to data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), as of October 22, 2021, at least 4,238,594 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country, while 4,080,351 people have recovered, and 143,153 people have succumbed to the deadly virus.
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Translator: Muhammad Zulfikar, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
