Speaking at the Yidan Prize Asia Pacific Conference held by Chinese education foundation Yidan Prize on Wednesday, the minister said the health crisis had caused some positive transformations, including parents’ increased participation in their children’s education.

“We have never seen such a level of forced adaptation as when parents and teachers stumbled across learning how to use the technology. We’ve also never seen the number of parents who realize what a curriculum is, what homework is or how difficult it is to teach your children,” said Nadiem.

He added that the pandemic had forced policymakers to work harder to address inequality gaps. During the pandemic, students living in rural areas and those from low-income families have struggled to access and afford the hardware and internet access necessary to participate in online classes.

A survey launched by SMERU in July showed that teachers in villages, especially outside Java, needed to visit their students’ homes to give and collect homework because of a lack of internet access.

“The agenda of digitalizing schools to level the playing field in areas that may not have access has now been accelerated, as well as the redistribution of good teachers and the adoption of technology as a tool to enhance the capability of teachers, parents and students,” the minister said.

 McKinsey & Co. Education Practice chief Li-Kai Chen said it was important to harness technology to scale up access and redefine teachers’ roles. She said that teachers should be integrated with technology to enhance access and quality.

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