PRESS RELEASE

Violations of Face-to-Face School Opening at the Beginning of the New School Year

01 August 2021 The emergency PPKM policy which was extended until August 2 2021 requires regular teaching and learning activities on line/online to reduce the spread of Covid-19. This policy applies to all schools, colleges, academies and other educational/training places in areas with high transmission rates of Covid-19.

However, many schools or educational institutions apparently do not heed these provisions and continue to hold face-to-face learning.

Citizen Report

The Citizens' Coalition for LaporCovid-19 received 95 reports from residents regarding the implementation of face-to-face learning and non-compliance with the implementation of health protocols in schools and universities, in the last 6 months. We received the highest number of reports during July, with 29 complaints received. All of these citizen reports were in response to face-to-face learning which continued at the start of the new academic year (2nd week of July).

The report narrative is dominated by schools' non-compliance with emergency PPKM rules, such as not heeding online learning rules in PPKM level 4 areas (52% of 29 reports). Almost all the reports received came from areas that implemented PPKM level 4. Diah Dwi Putri, LaporCovid-19 volunteer, said that residents also complained about reporting clusters of Covid-19 spread in schools and resulting in many students being infected, namely 17% of the 29 residents' reports. Fahriza Marta Tanjung, Deputy Secretary General of the Federation of Indonesian Teachers' Unions, emphasized that there are many violations in schools but the education department is not strict in enforcing existing guidelines for opening face-to-face learning (PTM). Apart from that, supervision in the field is not running, and there is even a void in the role of the Ministry of Education and Culture in enforcing the rules.

Satriwan Salim, Coordinator of P2G (Association for Education and Teachers) said that violations of the 4 Ministerial Decree still occur in schools spread across 16 provinces. Several schools and boarding schools in the red zone are still carrying out PTM. Even though this violation has been going on for a long time, unfortunately this violation has been allowed without clear enforcement of rules and sanctions. In fact, many teachers have not received the vaccine but have already carried out PTM. Apart from that, there are inconsistencies in the regulations of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Health. The Ministry of Health requires schools to open with a maximum limit of 25%, 2 hours a day, and only twice a week, while the Ministry of Education and Culture allows 50% entry, Satriwan added. Responding to the PTM situation during the PPKM period, Charlie Albajili, Public Lawyer for LBH Jakarta, said that the government had failed to fulfill its obligations in
provide students with the right to education during the pandemic. Charlie also confirmed that The government is obliged to provide basic needs for citizens according to the mandate of the Health Quarantine Law, so that families can focus on student education. The state also has a big role in internet needs for all Distance Learning participants.

Therefore, the Citizens' Coalition to Report Covid-19 recommends several things:

1. Urge the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology and
   related parties to postpone face-to-face learning until the case
   under control. Learning is carried out online in areas with high levels of transmission
   high (WHO: Positivity rates below 5% in the last 3 weeks). Meanwhile, avg
   positivity rate in the last few weeks in Indonesia it is still around above 40%.
   The higher the level of community transmission, the greater the possibility
   transmission of the virus spreads to schools from the community.
2. In organizing schools remotely, the Ministry of Education and Culture, Research and Technology must
   encourage innovation, adjustment, and improvement, and provide guidance
   effective online learning:
   • Increase abilities and facilitate teachers in using them
     technology that supports distance teaching and learning activities.
   • Coordinate with relevant ministries and local governments
     to facilitate internet access nationally.
3. The local government carries out supervision and evaluation of schools, incl
   provide strict sanctions to schools and officials who violate the rules, right?
   limited to providing warnings without regular supervision.
4. Central and local governments provide accurate and adequate information to people
   parents regarding the rate of transmission of Covid-19 and the risk of Covid-19 to children in general
   transparent (well-informed) so that parents can make decisions
   allow/not allow their children to go to school.

Contact Person:
Yemiko Happy, ReportCovid-19 (081358982549)
Diah Dwi Putri, ReportCovid-19 (082213556055)

This press release can be downloaded via the following link