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In-person learning made optional as cases rise
Parents previously had no say over whether to send their children to in-person classes, but a government official announced on Thursday that the choice would be theirs again.
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Students of Pondok Bambu 02 state elementary school in East Jakarta attend in-person classes on Jan. 3. (Courtesy if kompas.com/Nirmala Maulana Achmad)
T
he government has given ground in its push for compulsory in-person primary and secondary education, following weeks of pushback from critics concerned about the health of students and teachers amid a third COVID-19 wave.
Education, Culture, Technology and Research Ministry secretary-general Suharti announced on Thursday that schools in regions under level 2 public activity restrictions (PPKM) would be allowed to hold in-person classes at half capacity.
And while parents previously had no say over whether to send their children to in-person classes, Suharti said the choice would be theirs again.
The revision rolls back a decree that education minister Nadiem Makarim and four of his Cabinet colleagues signed on Dec. 21, 2021, which required schools in regions under level 1 and 2 PPKM to resume full-capacity classroom learning by the beginning of 2022.
Under the superseded regulation, schools were allowed operate at reduced capacity only if the region had imposed level 3 restrictions, the second-strictest of the four-tiered system.
“[Now] schools in level 2 PPKM areas are allowed to apply their own discretion in adjusting the capacity requirement,” Suharti said.
Schools with a low number of infections, he said, would still be allowed to operate at full capacity.
