Ministry: Distance Education Technology Applied Permanently

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Head of the Research and Development Agency at the Education and Culture Ministry, Totok Suprayitno, said the technology of the long-distance learning program (PJJ) was applied permanently even after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“[Applied] permanently or not, the adoption of technology is accelerated by the occurrence of a pandemic. Its application will be permanent, not only during a pandemic,” said Totok in a media briefing in Jakarta on Monday, July 6.

He explained that a report from UNESCO revealed that technology expedited the learning process. Thus, even though the COVID-19 pandemic will end, the distance education will remain in use.

“The adoption of technology in learning culture, either regulated or unregulated, can run well. To have a good learning culture, the innovation does not depend on the rules,” Totok added.

Therefore, he urged teachers to not only complete the curriculum but also to learn comprehensively, and that teachers must be student-oriented during teaching-learning activities.

From the onset of the new school year, teachers must conduct assessments toward students in order to determine to what extent students obtained abilities during distance education.

Meanwhile, the Ministry’s Director-General of Teachers and Education Personnel, Iwan Syahril, said the long-distance learning program would still be carried out, yet in different fashion.

“It is called hybrid learning or a mixed approach learning program between offline and online learning. It can be 10 percent online learning and 90 percent offline learning. That depends on teachers,” Iwan explained.

Read: Remote Learning, Nadiem Makarim Reminds Teachers to Maintain Engagement

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