COVID-19 Has Make 1.6 Billion Students Disturbed By Learning Activities

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JAKARTA - The Director General of Teachers and Education Personnel of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Iwan Syahril, said the COVID-19 pandemic had exacerbated the learning crisis.

"The pandemic has exacerbated the learning crisis that previously existed. Especially in vulnerable groups who are at risk of losing learning opportunities," said Iwan in a virtual discussion monitored in Jakarta, Thursday, July 7, quoted from Antara.

He added that the pandemic had closed schools. Even 1.6 billion students were affected.

Most countries in the world implement distance education, but some are also constrained by infrastructure.

Therefore, he continued, efforts are needed to control the risk together.

The Australian Embassy Education and Research Attache in Jakarta, Han Xiao Zhang, said about 65 percent of students in Australia attend public schools. Each state, Zhang continued, has its own rules or policies.

"In Australia, each state has a different policy or regulation. For example, in Victoria, students experienced the longest restrictions in the world. Even based on data, on May 20, 2021, only about 23 percent of students actually studied face-to-face," Zhang said.

Zhang explained that face-to-face learning is very important in the student learning process. Therefore, his party in Australia is trying to encourage schools that are closed for the first time to prioritize face-to-face learning by implementing strict health protocols.

This is an important thing for schools to get out of the COVID-19 situation. Even the Federal Government has also provided additional funds to help provide health protocol facilities and infrastructure," Zhang explained again.

However, most schools were closed during the pandemic, he continued, the education system in Australia has shown resilience and agility in dealing with times of crisis.

"Even from the results of the national exam, the results were as good as the previous years," Zhang said.