VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

As many as 490,217 schools in Indonesia have started conducting limited face-to-face learning, an official from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) has said.

“A total of 490,217 schools in areas with level 1 to 3 PPKM are allowed (to conduct face-to-face learning). However, the speed of regions in conducting limited classroom learning varies greatly," director general of early childhood education, basic education, and secondary education at Kemendikbudristek, Jumeri, said in a statement released here on Tuesday.

Jumeri said that currently, Aceh province is in the top rank in the implementation of limited face-to-face learning, with 81 percent of schools conducting face-to-face learning. Nationally, Jumeri informed, 50 percent of the schools that have been allowed to do limited face-to-face learning have started conducting it.

“We have one voice to open schools immediately, to relax our children, to help our children. The matter of different opening times is only a matter of regional considerations," he said.

Head of the East Java Provincial Education Office, Wahid Wahyudi, lauded the steps taken by the Ministry of Education and Culture for making regulations regarding classroom learning to maintain the quality of learning during the pandemic.

He also invited all stakeholders to support limited face-to-face learning by continuing to implement strict health protocols.

“Education should not stop under any circumstances. Let us support this limited face-to-face learning together," Wahyudi remarked.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for COVID-19 vaccinations at the Ministry of Health, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said that educators and education personnel would continue to get priority for vaccinations. The ministry has always reminded the health offices in all provinces, districts, cities to immediately coordinate with the education office to accelerate the vaccination of educators and education personnel, she added.

Tarmizi also assured that there is no requirement for students to get vaccinated first to be able to participate in the face-to-face learning. (Antaranews)