A Portrait of Education During the Pandemic at the Border of Borneo

#BersamaMelawanCovid19 - Since the Indonesian government established Covid-19 as a National Disaster, many policies and decisions have been taken to address the spread of the Coronavirus. Since then all activities that are mass gathering are prohibited. No exception for teaching and learning activities in schools.

From March 16, 2020, to the present, the government encourages every student to learn from home both online and offline. However, the implementation is not without obstacles.

Especially for students in the 3T areas (outermost, outermost, and disadvantaged), access to online and offline learning is very limited. Starting from the limitations of textbooks, smartphone ownership, internet quota to the limitations of parents in guiding their children. Sambas Regency is one of the outermost regencies which are borders with Malaysia.

In order to answer these limitations, Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) in Sambas Regency provided a study group assistance for Elementary School students. 193 children from 14 study groups in 6 villages participated in the activity routinely.

''The assistance of the study group conducted by WVI has been running since April 27, 2020, in the form of providing media and teaching materials as well as several other supporting tools for preventing Covid-19 transmissions, such as masks, hand washing facilities with soap, hand washing soap, hand sanitizers and liquids disinfectant and also do not forget the posters about the prevention of Covid-19 which were socialized to the children of the group said,'' explained Ignatius Anggoro (41), Area Program Manager of WVI in Sambas.

The learning group mentoring process involved 16 mentors consisting of 7 teachers and 9 cadres. WVI also ensures health protocols are carried out in these learning activities. Every day the companion conducts an average of three sessions followed by five children per session. In addition, each child is required to sit a distance of 1.5 meters from other children.

One of the assistant teachers is Septi. Currently, Septi (36) is still active as an honorary teacher at SDN 13 Tanjung, Sajingan Besar District. Septi stated that during this pandemic many children were not yet able to access the education program both online and offline.

Encouraged by her call to continue serving children in her area accompanied by support from the family and WVI, the mother of three children started a limited study group that only served five children in one meeting. According to Septi, the learning activities were very well received by children and parents.

‘’During the activity, the children were very enthusiastic, they enjoyed participating in this learning activity. The material presented is diverse and children can express their feelings through student satisfaction sheets,'' said Septi.

One of the children who joined the study group was Florentina (11). The 5th-grade student at one of the elementary schools in the Sajingan Besar District is one of the active children since the learning process began. He told that before joining the WVI-assisted study group, he did not have any activities.

"But since I joined, I can learn more from home by being accompanied by a teacher," he said.

Even though it is just running, more and more regions are then interested in doing the same thing. Two new study groups from Kaliau Village are preparing to begin. In addition, the Sambas Regency Education and Culture Office, through the Regional Coordinator in both the Districts of Teluk Keramat and Sajingan Besar also provided support.

Marta, Sajingan Besar Regional Coordinator, had a chance to visit the learning process in Sanatab Village.

‘’If you can, you can look for a new school for your next activity. Whoever the tutor is, I'm okay,'' said Marta.

Through this assistance, it is hoped that local villages and related offices can contribute to the learning group activities. Because if not us, who else should be responsible for the future of children at the border of this country.

Written by: Yanti Tjhang, Education Coordinator for the Sambas Wahana Visi Indonesia Program Area