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Jakarta refutes ministry findings on school clusters
An internal investigation by the Jakarta administration into claims that 25 COVID-19 infection clusters had been found among schools trialing classroom learning reveals that the findings were blown out of proportion.
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Pupils engage in face-to-face learning at SD 6 Lapai state elementary school in Padang, West Sumatra, on Jan. 4, 2021. (Antara/Iggoy el Fitra)
T
he Jakarta Education Agency refuted on Friday the findings of a survey by the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry, which flagged 25 COVID-19 infection clusters during the city’s in-class learning trials.
As virus cases across Indonesia appear to be slowing, the government has instructed regional administrations to start providing the option of at-school learning amid concerns about learning loss and a general yearning to return to normalcy.
Trial runs have started all across the country, yielding promising results early on – until the ministry dropped a bombshell that surprised the capital’s administrators.
Agency head Nahdiana said an internal investigation on the matter found that just two of the 25 schools listed in the ministry report had taken part in the first wave of the trial runs. Even then, neither school had recorded a virus outbreak during the trials, based on verification results.
“Since the first phase [of limited trial runs started on Aug. 30], there have not been any COVID-19 cases at the two schools, whether among the students, teachers or other school staff,” she said in a statement.
The ministry’s survey, published on Wednesday, claimed that 25 clusters had formed during trials in the capital. Of that figure, authorities reportedly found eight in West Jakarta, the municipality with the highest number of schools, followed by East Jakarta (six), North Jakarta (five), South Jakarta (five) and a single cluster in Central Jakarta.
The survey revealed that 227 teachers and 224 students in the capital had been infected with COVID-19 as a result.
