Highly varied learning facilities and support from parents among students, even in a class taught by the same teacher, leads to equally varied practices of learning from home. This widens even further learning inequalities among students. Students with limited support receive the worst impacts of the school closure policy.
In the remote teaching practice, variations between teachers in terms of their teaching abilities and methods are affected by a number of factors, including their access to the internet. Teachers in urban areas, both on and outside Java Island, are more likely to be more active in teaching.
A more systematic effort is needed to improve the quality of learning from home implementation which is expected to continue until at least the end of this year. Teachers need to be prepared to conduct teaching which takes into account the varied learning abilities among students in their class. This is important to ensure that low-performing students will not lag further behind their peers.
This Research Note is one of the products of a series of nine SMERU studies on the socioeconomic conditions of people living in Indonesia amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The studies are supported by Knowledge Sector Initiative (KSI).
