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Looming learning loss prompts push to reopen schools
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Socially distanced students enter the grounds of the Jakarta Lycée Français in Cipete, South Jakarta, on May 28. (JP/Dio Suhenda)
O
nline learning has robbed Gita Rizkasari’s son, 8-year-old Abid, of the chance to see his friends at school in Jakarta. Abid, who entered his first year of elementary school not long after the pandemic hit the country last year, is now moving on to his second year as the government makes preparations to reopen schools.
During Abid’s first year in school, Gita decided not to buy him a school uniform. She recalled how excited her son was when she bought him a uniform and he wore it to school for a report card photo session one day in December.
“He was so excited, so happy to finally go to school that day, since he hadn’t seen his friends since kindergarten. He always asked me, ‘Mom, when will I go to school?’” Gita said on Tuesday.
Having closely attended to her son’s education for the past year, Gita knows the struggle of teaching children during the pandemic, especially because she is a teacher herself. She teaches fifth grade at SDN Pondok Labu 13 state elementary school in South Jakarta.
The pandemic has caused her to struggle to create a bond with her students. She has also had to rely on parents to ensure that her students understand her lessons.
Some of her students have parents who work full time, including a single mother who works to provide food for three other children.
“Sometimes, I want to go back to school as well because the delivery of class material cannot be done solely by video.”
