JAKARTA (UCAN): “We will not hesitate to close schools if students are transmitting the [Covid-19] virus,” said Nadiem Makarim, the minister for Education, Research and Technology as schools reopened at the start of September after having been shut for 18 months.
About 42 per cent of more than 278,000 schools have reopened so far since strict social restrictions were eased. However a recent surge in cases prompted the warning as at least 15,000 students and 7,000 teachers at around 1,500 schools have been infected the start of September.
Franciscan Father Vinsensius Darmin Mbula, chairperson of the National Council of Catholic Education, backed the minister’s warning.
“Implementing and following health protocols are a moral obligation,” Father Mbula said.
“While it is important that all students, teachers and parents should be vaccinated, they still need to practice social distancing and other safeguards,” he said, adding, that Catholic schools were strictly enforcing such rules to protect their students.
Philip Situmorang, spokesman of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia, said that although schools needed to reopen after 18 months of closure, safety had to take priority.
“We want to see schools open because students faced many difficulties studying at home,” he said adding, however, that if they can’t follow rules on social distancing, class sizes and the wearing of masks, they should remain closed.
Makarim said that the government is vaccinating students aged from 12- to 17-years-old, but schools still had the responsibility to try and prevent the coronavirus from spreading. This meant following social distancing rules and conducting testing.
