COVID-19 Pandemic Brings Fresh Ideas in Learning Methods: President Jokowi

Image uploaded on President Jokowi twitter account @jokowi on National Education Day, Saturday (2/5)

COVID-19 pandemic has brought many lessons in student learning, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has said.

“(The lessons) include how to stop the virus transmission and how the students manage to study at home,” President Jokowi tweeted through his official Twitter account @jokowi on Saturday (2/5) in commemoration of the National Education Day.

According to the President, the pandemic and stay-at-home order have developed teachers’ creativity to provide learning materials for the students.

“The schools have been encouraged to be creative in adopting technology in the teaching and learning process,” the President added.

For the record, the Government has ordered schools to be shut since March as part of the efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Following the order, the students have been studying from home using video conference or doing home experiment under teacher’s guidance.

Separately, Minister of Education and Culture Nadiem Anwar Makarim delivered his remarks to commemorate the National Education Day.

Sharing a similar sentiment, the Minister said that the pandemic has given many lessons for the students’ life.

“We are facing this COVID-10 crisis. A crisis that has caused many fatalities. A crisis that has posed an extraordinary challenge for our country and for the world. However, this crisis has brought many lessons that we can learn now and afterwards,” he said.

Former raid-hailing app Gojek CEO also encouraged all stakeholders in education sector to continue innovating amidst the pandemic.

“Learning is not always an easy process but it is time to innovate (for the new learning method). It is time to carry out various experiments. It is time to listen to our conscience and to learn from COVID-19,” he said.

National Education Day in Indonesia is celebrated on 2 May. It was initiated in remembrance of Ki Hajar Dewantara, Indonesia’s first education minister and a national hero. He founded Taman Siswa in 1922, the first public school in the country that accepted native Indonesians who were not of noble blood.

His motto for teachers at Taman Siswa, “Tut Wuri Handayani” (“Empower and Support”), is still used as the official motto for Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture. (PR of Ministry of Education and Culture/EN)

Translated by: Estu Widyamurti
Reviewed by: M. Ersan Pamungkas