Tomorrow, Monday 22 March, Mimika Education Department Will Allow Face-to-face Learning

JAKARTA - The Mimika Regency Education Office, Papua Province, on Monday, March 22, will begin allowing face-to-face schools in the City of Timika and its surroundings, which have been the red zone for the transmission of COVID-19.

Reported by Antara, Sunday, March 21, Head of Mimika Education Office Jenny O Usmani said that the implementation of face-to-face schools had been discussed with the principals of SD and SMP schools in Mimika during a meeting that took place at SMP Negeri 2 Mimika recently.

The face-to-face school administration is carried out by implementing strict health protocols specifically for students who will face school exams, namely grade VI SD and grade IX SMP. Meanwhile, for class XII SMA it is the authority of the Papua Provincial Education Office to regulate it.

"The implementation of face-to-face schools for the time being is devoted to 6th grade elementary school and ninth grade junior high school students who will enter the final exams. Of course, the requirements are that only 50 percent of students in one class can participate by paying attention to the strict application of health protocols," explained Jenny.

He said that the implementation of face-to-face schools conformed to the Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture, Minister of Health, Minister of Religion and Minister of Home Affairs on November 20, 2020 regarding guidelines for implementing learning for the 2020/2021 school year during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even so, he said, students who can be included in face-to-face learning must get approval from their parents.

"Parents who agree to include their children to take the face-to-face learning method will make a statement so that parents also have the responsibility to take their children to school so that the children don't hang around in school," said Jenny.

As for parents who do not agree with the face-to-face learning method, they can choose online or online learning methods, and for students who have not entered the final exam preparation class, they continue to carry out learning from home as it has been going on for almost the past year.

Several agreements were made during a meeting of SD-SMP principals in Mimika some time ago, namely students who will take face-to-face learning must wash their hands before entering class, take body temperature checks, must wear masks, only 50 percent of students attend class and as long as the learner progresses there should be no physical contact between students and students with the teacher.

Furthermore, in a day only two subjects were given without a break with a duration of two hours. The school was also asked to adjust the seat distance between students.