Rather Than COVID-19 Cluster, Nadiem Makarim Is More Worried About The Potential For Learning Loss

Minister of Education and Technology Nadiem Makarim/ANTARA

JAKARTA - Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Mendikbudristek) Nadiem Makarim said his party was not too worried about the transmission of COVID-19 during face-to-face learning (PTM). The reasons are various prevention of the coronavirus has been done.

Nadiem said that his party was more worried that there were still schools that did not implement PTM, causing learning loss or loss of academic ability.

"We are not too worried about trances when schools have started PTM. I'm even more worried that only 40 percent of our schools are holding PTM. So actually 60 percent of schools have allowed PTM but haven't done it yet," Nadiem said in a press conference that aired on the Presidential Secretariat's YouTube, Monday, September 27.

He explained that learning loss is scarier and this is because the children have not attended face-to-face school for too long.

"Data from the world bank and research institutions show how scary learning loss can be outside of psychological conditions, especially at the elementary and early childhood education levels," he said.

"So it worries us how long children have been doing PJJ which is far from the effectiveness of face-to-face schools," added Nadiem.

Previously reported, Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin ensured that COVID-19 remained under control and denied that there were new clusters of spread after schools carried out face-to-face learning (PTM).

"So yesterday there were a lot of discussions or there were a lot of clusters circulating, that's actually not the case. We convey the data transparently," Budi said at a press conference after holding a limited meeting with President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) which was broadcasted on the State Secretariat's YouTube, Monday, September 27.

He ensured that his party continued to carry out surveillance strategies or 3T, namely testing, tracing, and treatment to detect the spread of the virus, especially in teaching and learning activities.

The former Deputy Minister of BUMN then explained that surveillance was carried out by taking samples or samples from a number of schools that carried out PTM. "From the 10 percent, we divide the allocation based on the sub-districts. So, which sub-district has more schools, it will automatically have more schools," said Budi.