THE FUTURE OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IN INDONESIA POST COVID-19

PANDEMIC

Background
COVID-19 pandemic has created major disruption in Indonesia. Various sectors, including
education, are greatly affected by the pandemic. Since March 2020, the Indonesian
Government has been implementing partial closure of school. Only the children of key workers
and those identified as vulnerable being invited to attend the school. Most children were instead
expected to learn remotely, with most schools - public as well as private - provided learning
materials for home use and/or digital lessons.
The swift transition from convential learning to remote learning is somewhat creating positive
and negative impacts for students, teachers and their families. Both teacher and student must
adapt to the usage of information and communication technology (ICT) in the learning process.
Teachers must create materials and teaching methods that is easy to comprehend by their pupils
via monitor of computer or cellphone. At the same time students also need to maintain
discipline to follow the class at home, while try to avoid distractions.
For the family, particularly those who live in modest economy, the adaptation of the new
learning requires them to add some expense creating higher financial burden for parents. While
on the other side, students who come from higher income families are relatively more able to
adapt to the new condition. This situation creating a concern on the widening of socio-economic
gap, that needs to be addressed carefully.
While there are pros and cons on the remote learning method, the adaption of ICT in education
is inevitable. In recent years the penetration of digital information technology has been growing
rapidly in Indonesia. In 2019, the number of population in Indonesia who accessed internet
numbered at 175.4 million.i The emergence of digital startup companies such as Gojek,
Tokopedia, Shopee, and digital learning platform Ruangguru creates major shift on how the
Indonesian live. The simplicity of ordering food or taxi via online application, has became the
new standard for Indonesian.
The Indonesian Government is fully aware of this rapid change. In 2017, the Government has
enacted Presidential Decree No 74 aiming to provide a roadmap for e-commerce industry. It
also had a program of inventing 1000 digital startups in 5 years. To implement this plan, the
government laid out strategy to improve the communication infrastructure, logistic and provide
training and education for digital talent.
The outbreak of the pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation in Indonesia. COVID-
19 has forced Indonesians to transform education institutions, in order to continue operating.
The pandemic has inadvertently led to an increased level of ICT updating in Indonesia. ii
As Indonesia starts to gradually adapt to the new normal, it is interesting to study how the
education will be transformed coherently with the current situation. This paper tries to look on
how the future of education, particularly the elementary level, in Indonesia post COVID-19
pandemic. The decision to focus on elementary or primary education is based on the notion that
this level is an important phase for children. According to UNICEF, primary education forms
the bedrock of development. It is in primary school that children learn foundational skills that
prepare them for life, work and active citizenship. Quality education empowers children and
young people, safeguards their health and well-being, and breaks cycles of poverty. It also
empowers countries, ushering in economic prosperity and social cohesion. iii
In the digital era, basic skills will not only comprise of literacy and arithmetic. Children will be
need to be introduced to the ICT early on to equip them with basic knowledge and skill on
technology. For Indonesia this is important as the country is now experiencing the peak of
demographic dividen, where in 2037 it is predicted to end. iv It means today until a decade to
come among 100 productive citizens aged 15-64 will only support 45.4 unproductive citizens,
namely children (<aged 15 years) and the elderly (> aged 65 years).
This condition is a big potential for a country to become a rich country thanks to the small
burden it bears. Demographic dividend only occurs once in the history of a nation. However,
harnessing the dividend requires good human resources and quality employment. Without
appropriate strategy demographic devidend can turn into a demographic disaster for Indonesia
The pandemic has made Indonesia’s dream of attaining the dividend even more difficult to
realize, but at the same time also provide momentum to increase the capacity of elementary
education in the country. The pandemic has made teachers and students more familiar with ICT
and they also has adapted to new method of learning.
This paper is aimed to identify the issues related to the continuation of the application of ICT in
elementary education post pandemic COVID-19 in Indonesia. Issues related to the potentials,
the economic and social impacts, the strategy that can be implemented and the hurdles that
might hinder the implementation will be analyzed based on research from existing studies on
education in Indonesia.

Identification of issues
Analysis
Conclusion
i
Retrieved from wearesocial.com
ii
Retrieved from https://digital.australiaindonesiacentre.org/news/insights/commentary/how-covid-19-is-
accelerating-indonesias-digital-transformation/
iii
Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/education/primary-education
iv
https://www.feb.ui.ac.id/en/blog/2020/11/08/disaster-at-the-peak-of-demographic-dividend/#:~:text=Indonesia
%20started%20to%20experience%20demographic,support%20fewer%20than%2050%20people.