Teachers Are Still Worried About Returning to School in New Normal Era

Together with the Directorate General of Teachers and Education Personnel of the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture, Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI), supported by Predikt conducted a Survey: Teacher Voice During the Covid-19 Pandemic. The survey, that was conducted on 27,046 teachers and education personnel in 34 provinces shows that 76% of teachers are still worried and hesitant to return to school during the Covid-19 pandemic.

There is flexibility for local governments, schools, and parents to be able to do face-to-face learning in the green/yellow zone, but teachers and educators have not yet accepted it. Based on the survey, 95% of teachers still agree to do social distancing learning or combination learning.

In the current condition, based on the available facilities and infrastructure, most teachers think that the best strategy is a combination of social distancing learning and face-to-face learning (45%). While 38% of teachers chose to do fully online learning, another 12% chose offline distance learning, and only 5% chose face-to-face entirely.

Education Specialist of WVI, Mega Indrawati said the survey focused on teachers in the 3T (frontier, outermost and underdeveloped) areas and special education sector. It was carried out to see a picture of the needs of teachers and educators as educational facilitators on the front lines. It also to find out the perceptions of teachers and other education personnel related to the school situation due to the pandemic as well as the process towards reopening schools with the New Habit Adaptation (AKB) scheme.

"The impact of school closures is experienced by teachers and students. This situation can lead to a decline in the quality of education because learning from home requires new skills, both for students and teachers, especially for special schools (SLB) and schools in 3T areas," she said.

The results of the survey stated that various needs for teachers and educators to support the learning process when schools reopen. Sixty-five percent of respondents need personal protective equipment (masks, face shields, hand washing facilities), 37% need incentives and / or access to internet quota or pulses, 31% need monitoring and supervision from various parties, 27% need appropriate teaching materials new curriculum, 26% need communication tools, 25% need swab tests for school members, and 21% need guidance for learning.

Responding to the survey results, the Director of Teachers and Education Personnel for Secondary Education and Special Education at the Ministry of Education and Culture, Praptono, explained that the survey results could be used as ammunition for the Ministry of Education and Culture to implement policies, especially for teachers in 3T areas and special education teachers.

"That 3 out of 4 teachers are worried about the opening of this school confirms that the opening of the school really has to strictly implement health protocols," he added.

The Voice Teacher Survey during the Covid-19 Pandemic was conducted in the period 18 August-5 September 2020. 95% of respondents were in non 3T areas, 5% in 3T areas which 74% of respondents came from general education, and 26% came from special education (SLB).

Written by: Amanda Putri Nugraha, Media Relations Officer and Putri ianne Barus, Communications Officer Wahana Visi Indonesia