The COVID-19 pandemic has forced students across Indonesia to study from home. As of September 11, 2020, Indonesia has reported more than 210,000 cases, the second highest in Southeast Asia. The pandemic and the obstacle of online learning caused the Indonesian government to take some action. The chronology of the education policy and online learning in a public high school in Indonesia is reported in this manuscript.
The education system in Indonesia has many challenges. With a pandemic, things have gotten even worse. That was stated by Nadiem Makarim, Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia in an interview in mid-August 2020. Minister Nadiem Makarim had only been in office for 5 months before the pandemic hit Indonesia. At the beginning of his appointment, he made various designs to improve Indonesia’s quality of education. These days, Minister Nadiem Makarim needs more than just a design to increase Indonesian education from its downturn. There were two significant problems regarding education in Indonesia: (1) access to education and (2) quality of education. Indonesia has to improve not just access but also the quality of education (Rosser, 2018).
SMAN 1 Setu Bekasi, a public high school in Jawa Barat Province, is run by the local government and follows the Indonesian curriculum. The teaching language used is the Indonesian language. SMAN 1 Setu Bekasi has 55 teachers and 1,008 students. The school is in Bekasi Regency, 46 km from Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia.
Before the pandemic, learning was face-to-face. Students come to school and study in classrooms with their teachers. Some teachers use learning media such as presentation slides, learning videos, Google Classrooms. There was also lab work for science subjects. Teachers also used language labs to teach foreign languages. Students also learn to use computers in the computer lab. Some other teachers use a blackboard to deliver the learning content. Learning is carried out by the syllabus and lesson plans that have been made by the teachers.
Online learning
On March 24, 2020, the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture issued regulations regarding education policies during the COVID-19 pandemic period and the national exam (exit examination) for high school students (Indonesia Ministry of Education and Culture, 2020d). Thus, schools in Indonesia started to conduct distance learning. At SMAN 1 Setu, teachers, and students carried out online learning from their respective homes. There was much confusion from teachers, parents, and students because they are not familiar with online learning. At first, the learning was carried out through Whatsapp Group. Some teachers also use Google Classroom. In the first 2 weeks, all students were directed to learn more about COVID-19. Students learned about the virus and how to deal with it. Students were also taught to make hand sanitizers and hand soaps. Art teachers also asked students to make a poster regarding COVID-19. Moreover, the school trained the teachers to use various applications to support online learning, such as Zoom, Google Classroom, and Quipper. Teachers also learned to make learning materials on their own. They create slide presentations and learning videos. Study hours were shortened to 30 minutes online for each subject. Everyday learning takes place from 7 A.M. to 12:30 P.M. Assignments are given online and submitted online.
In early April, teachers and parents began complaining about the cost of the internet used for online learning, which prompted schools to provide help with internet costs for teachers and students. However, internet access is not the only problem. Not all students have adequate devices to access the internet that enable them to learn online. Many parents are unemployed or have reduced income due to the pandemic, so they can not provide the kids with appropriate devices. Students who have struggled with online learning were permitted to complete the assignments offline. They can come to school and submit the assignments.
In mid-May 2020, the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture provides Educational TV, broadcasting educational programs that students can access in remote areas (Indonesia Ministry of Education and Culture, 2020c). SMAN 1 Setu teachers also use these TV shows in their learning. The assessments of teachers’ performances suggest that some teachers were not doing online learning correctly. They occasionally conducted online learning due to internet access (lost signal in their area). Some other teachers did not do online learning because they do not know how to do it. They do not know how to use a computer or the computer applications.
Exit examination and final test
The national examination for high school students was supposed to be done in April 2020. However, the ministry canceled the examination (Indonesia Ministry of Education and Culture, 2020d). The national examination is an exit examination for 12th-grade high school students. It means all 12th-grade students were graduated without taking the national examination. The school uses the assessments based on cumulative grades on report cards from 3 years of study to evaluate students’ achievement. The school decided to pass all 12th-grade students but still conduct final tests for 10th- and 11th-grade students in June 2020. All tests were done online. The school used the application Edubox for administering the test. Students who were unable to take the tests at home could do the tests at school. The Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture emphasized that teachers not force the completion of the instruction but to provide more meaningful learning experiences for students. On June 16, 2020, the school held a virtual seminar for teachers with the theme “how to overcome virtual learning boredom for students.” This activity was intended to provide knowledge about making online learning more exciting and less tedious for students.
New emergency curriculum
The new school academic year started in July 2020. Schools in the green zone may conduct face-to-face activities, while schools in the orange and red zones must conduct online learning (Indonesia Ministry of Education and Culture, 2020a). The zones were determined by the COVID-19 Fast-Response Team. COVID-19 Fast-Response Team was a team formed by the president of the Republic of Indonesia responsible for handling the surveillance and isolation of suspected COVID-19 patients and coordinating with relevant stakeholders to ensure effective containment measures to curb possible broader contagion, including at the country’s entry points.
SMAN 1 Setu was in the red zone, so it continued to do online learning. However, the school also facilitated students who have difficulty with online learning. On July 13, 2020, these struggling students were asked to attend school in groups (5–10 people) and placed in one classroom to learn face-to-face with the teacher. Before getting into the class, students were asked to wash their hands, use a mask, face shield, have their temperature checked, and sit 1.5 meters away from other classroom students. This activity only lasted for 3 weeks because the parents were afraid their kids might catch the coronavirus in school.
On August 9, 2020, Minister Nadiem Makarim said that schools have three curriculum options that can be taken in emergencies or special conditions in the midst of the current global COVID-19 pandemic (Indonesia Ministry of Education and Culture, 2020b). Implementation of the curriculum in special conditions aims to provide flexibility for educational units to determine the curriculum according to the learning needs of students. Schools can choose one of the three curriculum options offered: (1) keep referring to the national curriculum; (2) use the emergency curriculum; or (3) simplify the curriculum independently. SMAN 1 Setu chose to simplify the curriculum independently. The school also built a mini studio to develop the learning media. The school also has scheduled the teachers to work from office partially. Teacher must come to school 2 to 3 days per week to work at the office.
Current state
Jakarta, the neighbor province of West Java, announced to implement a partial lockdown again as in March 2020 (Akhlas, 2020) due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in Jakarta. SMAN 1 Setu is also completely closed due to the increase of COVID-19 cases in the area (Syakriah, 2020). The implementation of midterm exams was also postponed due to the increase in COVID-19 cases. The school also has plans to hold a training program for teachers to improve their ability to design and develop a new curriculum, which includes the learning media or learning materials.
Final summary
Students and teachers often face difficulties in online learning because of the cost of internet access and the inadequacy of the devices they use for online learning. For example, there is a family with three school children who only have one device for online learning.
Students found online learning boring and uninteresting. Students also felt that the teacher was giving too many assignments.
Teachers need to be trained to design the instruction. Learning materials or learning media can be developed by a team consisting of material experts, media production and graphic design experts, linguists, and instructional design experts. It would be terrific if each school had a team for the development of learning materials.
Teachers also need to expose to various online learning strategies so they can implement it in their class. It will help students from being bored and pressured due to excessive assignments. Schools must facilitate teachers to be able to develop online learning strategies that are in accordance with the characteristics of students and the characteristics of their subject matter.
School also has to train teachers to improve their computer literacy. Some teachers might not feel confident with online learning because they do not know how to use the devices. Thus, training will help teachers to use a computer and other devices for online learning.
