Hooray, School Is Back

Starting Monday (30/8), face-to-face schooling resumed along with the lowering of the PPKM (Pemberlakuan Pembatasan Kegiatan Masyarakat, Enforcement of Community Activity Restrictions) level to level 3 in several regions, especially in the capital. This was of course welcomed by all levels of society, who had begun to feel weary of Distance Learning (PJJ). However, not everyone agrees with this decision. There are still pros and cons in society.
Most of those in favour believe that PJJ has gone on too long and tends to be ineffective. In line with the statement of the Minister of Education, PJJ that has lasted too long could disrupt children's psychological development. Not to mention that learning is less effective because it revolves only around giving assignments, which students do not necessarily do themselves. In reality, in the field there are still many students who rely on their parents or siblings to do their assignments. In addition, the uneven access to the internet in Indonesia also makes PJJ ineffective. PJJ can also cause a setback in education in Indonesia if it is run for too long. For these reasons, many support holding face-to-face learning immediately.
On the other side, those against consider that reopening schools is still too hasty, given that the vaccination process has not yet met the target for achieving herd immunity. In addition, rapid or PCR tests are not required to take part in learning, which relies only on the belief that students and teachers are healthy. This is of course very worrying because it could cause new COVID-19 clusters. Even though health protocols (prokes) have been implemented in various ways, some of those against consider that prokes are merely a formality and are often neglected in practice in the field. We can see for ourselves around us that in reality many people still wear masks only because they are afraid of being caught in a spot check.
Nadiem Makarim, as the Minister of Education, does give parents the right not to allow their children to attend face-to-face school. This is of course also a breath of fresh air for parents who are still worried about COVID-19 transmission. Most schools are also still holding this face-to-face learning using a blended learning method, or with only 50% of students attending because of limited infrastructure for letting students keep their distance. However, in practice students may not necessarily keep their distance in an orderly way. And mask use may be just a formality, without covering the nose and mouth properly.
All parties of course want the best for Indonesian education. Face-to-face schooling is indeed like the proverbial simalakama fruit: whether it is done or not, both carry great risks. Of course the government is now trying to make the decision with the lowest possible risk. We as a society must now support it by readapting to the new normal and carrying out health protocols seriously. We all certainly want this pandemic to end soon. Let face-to-face school not become a boomerang for us. Let us not be so arrogant that we ignore health protocols.
The implementation of face-to-face schooling does still need further study. However, considering the ineffectiveness of PJJ, the government is compelled to make a decision soon. Neither the pro nor the con side can be blamed, because each is in its own situation and conditions. So parental permission is so far still the best way out of this problem. Its implementation in the field must be made easier if parents do not give permission. In addition, health protocols must also be carried out strictly and seriously, especially physical distancing. For none of us of course wants the reopening of schools to cause corona cases to explode again, like the easing of Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) last June.

http://m.harianmomentum.com/read/36175/harian-momentum-edisi-2-september

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