Yogyakarta, July 6th 2020—The Department of Public Policy Management Center for Research (Puska MKP), held a webinar titled “Bridging the Gaps; Policy Design vs the Readiness of Elementary and Middle School Education Implementation”. The webinar had three speakers in the first session. The three of them were Agustinus Subarsono, Ph.D, as the Director of Puska MKP UGM; Prof. Dr. Ainun. Naim, The Secretary General of Education and Culture Ministry; and Abetnego Tarigan, Deputy III of the President Staff office. This webinar was opened by Prof. Dr. Erwan Agus Purwanto, M.Si as Fisipol UGM dean.
Agustinus dived into the discussion by talking about the problem in the education sector during the pandemic. The problems are how there is no field study and lab study during the pandemic. Other than that, technology and internet connection disparity is also a problem. Not only that, teacher’s and parents’ technology literacy disparity also affects student’s understanding of the material while studying from home.
Agustinus then showed a data form the Center of Statistics body in 2019 which shows the average of teachers that have gotten a training in the technology and information sector. From those teachers, only 2.6% of private teachers have got technology training, meanwhile for public school teachers the number is 1,6%. “Not all teachers are prepared for remote learning,” Agustinus said.
Agustinus also gave a data from Puska MKP about remote learning in Yogyakarta from late June to early July this year. The data shows that the majority of students finds that remote learning is hard to follow. The majority of teachers in the data also share the difficulty. “The teachers found it hard to prepare the materials, find out the best form of activity, guide the students, as well as evaluate the academic performance of students,” Agustinus further elaborated.
From his elaboration, Agus reiterated the need to bridge the disparity of the policy design with the implementation of remote learning to relieve the burden of students. Other than that, Agus also highlighted the need to strengthen the shared responsibility as well as collaboration between schools and parents in the education sector. Agus also clarified the need to reflect upon online and offline learning as an alternative for the new normal phase. “Face to face activities can be done when the environment is safer.” Agus said.
Abetno Tarigan admitted that remote learning is done with minimum infrastructure. He said that the learning process is done flexibly to accommodate the condition of the pandemic. Some regions, like Ende District and Central Sumba District, innovated. In both these districts, teachers went to students’ house to share reading materials and worksheets. In West Tulang Bawang district, once a week teachers form a small group to watch movies together and give materials for the students to learn. In the Pandeglang District, Banten to be precise, students are given worksheets through Whatsapp. “In Pandeglang, worksheets accommodate students understanding of the pandemic,” Abetno said.
Ainun Naim said that it is urgent for the government to solve the situation of education in the middle of the pandemic. “The government’s priority should be the health and well being of the students, teachers, family, and society at large when deciding the education policy,” Ainun said.
Ainun re-elaborated that the Ministry of Education and Culture have mobilized the resources during this pandemic. One of them is in the aspect of health, which is by asking universities who have their own hospital to help in handling the Covid-19 pandemic. In the education sector, the National Examination have been replaced with a simple scoring. Other than that, the Ministry of Education and Culture also asks for the government funding for school to be used flexibly for school’s needs. Ainun also claimed that the ministry gave financial support for university students who couldn’t pay their tuition.