"During the recovery period, the government encourages schools to implement limited face-to-face learning, as the pandemic is not completely over," Secretary-General of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Suharti, stated during a webinar on policy adjustments for the implementation of limited face-to-face learning in 2022, monitored here Monday.
According to Suharti, online classes have placed enormous pressure on students, teachers, and parents.
"A study conducted by the World Bank also showed a decline in the students' abilities during the previous period, reaching 0.8 to 1.3 years of learning. This is huge, with a pandemic that has not reached two years, a decline in the students' abilities has reached more than one year (of learning)," she explained.
In addition, the ministry's secretary general highlighted the increasing inequality in learning between students of higher and low socioeconomic backgrounds. Children from well-off families find it easier to learn at home, as they can access resources well and their parents are mainly educated and able to guide them.
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Meanwhile, poor students have limited access to resources and limited guidance in learning from their parents that are commonly less educated.
"Hence, we need to make efforts to recover the learning process again and to reopen schools, although still in a limited manner," she noted.
The government has issued a decree of four ministers, which contains guidelines for the implementation of learning amid the pandemic. The decree is issued based on inputs from various elements of society and health experts.
Suharti appealed to schools to ensure that teachers and staff at schools were vaccinated.
The ministry's secretary general also stressed that learning at schools be conducted by implementing strict health protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
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Translator: Indriani, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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