Ministry Of Education And Culture Is Waiting For The Direction Of The Task Force Regarding The Opening Of Schools

JAKARTA - Minister of Education and Culture (Mendikbud) Nadiem Makarim, answered the issue of reopening schools after teaching and learning activities were carried out at home.

Nadiem said, Kemendikbud has indeed prepared various scenarios according to conditions in the field, but the decision was not taken by them but by the Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling COVID-19.

"It must be known that the Ministry of Education and Culture is ready with all scenarios but how to handle it in any scenario continues to be a discussion with experts and the task force is still reviewing the decision," said Nadiem in a virtual working meeting broadcast on YouTube DPR RI, Wednesday, 20 May.

He said, after the Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling COVID-19 made a decision, the Ministry of Education and Culture was then tasked with executing and managing its implementation.

Regarding when the decision to open the school will be made by the Task Force, Nadiem said he did not know for sure.

Moreover, COVID-19 is a national health problem. So, he prefers to wait for the decision of the task force led by Doni Monardo.

"I cannot provide any statement regarding that. The decision is in the Task Force," he said.

Some time ago, the issue of learning in schools would be carried out again even though the COVID-19 pandemic was still happening in Indonesia.

Responding to this, the Federation of Indonesian Teachers' Unions (FSGI) asked the government not to rashly decide to reopen schools, even though these schools are only in the green zone of COVID-19.

Deputy Secretary General of FSGI, Satriwan Salim, assessed that the coordination of the central and regional governments must be improved. This is because the coordination between central and regional governments or vice versa is not good. This can be seen from the handling of social assistance (bansos) to the community.

It is feared that coordination will not run again if later dealing with schools that are opened for learning activities during the corona virus outbreak. As a result, the spread of the virus is increasingly spreading among students.

"The central and local governments must improve their coordination, communication and data collection. Is one area really safe from the spread of COVID-19 or not," Satriawan told reporters, Sunday, May 17.

"Do not let it be because of poor data collection, after entering school in July, students and teachers will become victims of COVID-19. The risk is too great," he continued.

Therefore, Satriawan asked students to still be allowed to study at home at the start of the new school year in July, both online and offline.

As long as that is done, the government must improve services, teacher competence in managing learning, and support internet access. The government must also prepare guidelines for the student orientation period (MOS) by adjusting home learning activities and COVID-19 prevention protocols.

"Distance learning could be the best option for the next semester, or at least until the COVID-19 curve really slopes, taking into account input from health experts," said Satriawan.

Previously, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government also said that it had prepared a number of alternative teaching and learning activities when students entered the new academic year in July starting from the introduction of the school environment (MPLS).

The first scenario is to open a part of the school and hold learning activities in the school by all students. Second, opening a part of the school and learning activities at the school are carried out by some students. Third, open all schools but some students are allowed to study from home.

This school opening scenario is considered in accordance with the mapping of areas that are the green zones of COVID-19. Meanwhile, schools that are in the red zone of COVID-19 or areas with high virus transmission are not considered to be opened.

"We have to look at the map of the school location with the distribution of COVID-19. In Jakarta, there are red zones and green zones. For example, in Rorotan there has not been any COVID detected at all. The place is clean, so there is no problem," said DKI Jakarta Governor Anies. Baswedan.

Then, Anies also asked the DKI Education Agency to ensure the readiness of schools and teachers to be able to implement COVID-19 prevention protocols in schools, such as personal protective equipment such as masks, sterilizing classrooms, and encouraging students to wash their hands frequently with soap.