"It has never been so crucial to make education a universal right, and reality for all" - Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO
Covid-19 has transformed many human lives and various sectors in the Government. The lack of preparation so that when a pandemic occurs in many countries is 'not ready' in handling it, including the education sector. The challenge also sprung up every day, so it took a quick and precise effort to tackle the problem.
The challenge in Education during Crisis
In Indonesia, based on data from The Ministry of Manpower Republic Indonesia that during the Covid-19 pandemic, as many as 2 million adult workers lost their jobs. Parents who lose their job will have an impact on the pattern of deprecation or children's lives, such as:
- Children do not get a decent educational facility because of the financial limitations.
- Children are vulnerable to child labor because they have to help parents meet the needs of the family, so that the child cannot study well.
- Children will also be vulnerable to have violence due to difficult family situations during a pandemic.
This research results is in line with the UNESCO/Secretariat of the ministry of Education indonesia data Research, also stating that 60 million students who study from home during a pandemic will experience a decrease in literacy and numeracy skills, dropouts, and even child exploitation.
In overcoming the challenges above, it is necessary to do a contractual approach in education so that the access to high education remains constructively fulfilled.
YOU(th) Can be Involved in adopting a new approach to responding to COVID-19
The education sector needs to be fast-paced. In this period of transition, it is necessary to involve parents, students, teachers, society as an important group in the adoption of gradual housing as well as youth community to give an innovation and become accelerator. The strategies that need to be applied to speed up pandemic handling are as follows:
- Review the learning targets you want to achieve to rationally align with new situations and conditions in new normal.
- Identify the resources that need to be owned and held so that the new objectives that have been established can be achieved with the availability of existing resources.
- Mapping the situation and condition of each teacher and student who must be ready to perform a new learning model based on blended learning as designed.
- Explore the gap between needs and availability to develop strategic and operational measures that need to be done for bridging.
- Execution of these measures creatively and innovative by establishing various partnerships with external parties concerned about education with youth communities in the local area.
The world faces significant challenges in addressing the immediate and longer-term effects of the pandemic on education systems. But the commitment of local and global education actors including youth, in finding new and innovative ways to deliver quality education should provide us all with a sense of hope. Crises showcase leadership. If the education practitioners, society and youth communities can come together and learn from each other about new ways of providing quality education (SDG 4) , it will emerge better equipped to help students thrive in a rapidly changing world and achieve the global goals by 2030.