The preliminary report of a study conducted by the Southeast Asia office of the global poverty reduction research center Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) found indications that online learning has been too challenging for both parents and students despite being the safest option for educating children during the outbreak.

The survey looked into 114 high- and low-poverty elementary schools across Indonesia's capital from July to August last year and polled 16,453 parents and 1,667 teachers and conducted in-depth interviews with 198 parents, 50 teachers and 10 school supervisors.

“Preliminary findings suggest that this [the parents’ struggle to keep their children focused on online schoolwork] could be a result of children's boredom due to a lack of interaction with their peers,” J-PAL’s preliminary report said.

Most children have to rely on their parents to explain about the topics set by the teachers in online classes and to help complete schoolwork, however not all parents have the skills or time to fully assist their children. This, coupled with the large amount of schoolwork the students receive every day, contributes to children's inability to maintain their concentration during virtual learning, according to the study.

A 37-year-old housewife in Ciledug, Tangerang, Banten, on the outskirts of Jakarta, who sends her children to a low-poverty elementary school in South Jakarta, agreed with the findings although she was not surveyed.

The mother, who preferred to remain anonymous, said her first-grader son was easily distracted when studying at home, so she had to continuously monitor him to ensure he listened to his teachers and completed his assignments.