Name : Fajriyatul Maulidya

Class : C of English Education 2018

Subject : Essay Writing
Middle Test

THE IMPACT OF A GREAT PANDEMY ON THE INDONESIAN

EDUCATION WORLD

At present the world is in an uproar with an outbreak of a disease caused by

a deadly virus called corona or in other terms called covid-19 (Corona Virus
diseases-19). The virus is served on December 31, 2019 in the Chinese city of
Wuhan, Hubei Province. Until now the virus continues to spread to almost all
parts of the world very quickly until the WHO established this virus as a global
pandemic. About hundreds of thousands of people have become victims of
exposure to the virus, and there are even tens of thousands of deaths. Very fast
transmission and the difficulty of detecting people who are exposed because the
incubation period of covid-19 is approximately two weeks causes many
casualties, and not only that, transmission made through human contact is difficult
to predict due to social activities that cannot be avoided is the biggest cause of the
spread of covid-19. Until now the medical team still has not found an antidote for
the virus. Whereas the increasing number of patients exposed to covid-19 is the
highest cause of death. Hospitals and medical teams in charge felt so
overwhelmed that many patients were not handled well. The difficulty of
handling this epidemic makes presidents must implement a very strict policy to
break the chain of distribution of this covid-19. Social distancing is a choice that
must be made for each country in implementing policies to prevent the spread of
covid-19, because this policy has a negative impact on all aspects of life.
Restricting social interaction will hamper growth and progress in various aspects
of life, but there is no other choice, because this is the most effective way to
implement the policy. Social distancing policy is very adverse to the wheel of
human life, in this case the economic problem is the most felt impact, because it
touches various layers of society, both low to middle class society, all experience
the economic impact, the slowing down of the economic rate results in unmet
needs primary human, because the state will be very burdened if it has to bear all
the basic needs of each population. No exception in the world of education is also
affected by this policy. A sudden government decision by dismissing or
transferring the learning process from schools to being at home or in other terms
online class, makes many parties overwhelmed with these problems, especially in
low economic communities, Let alone getting sophisticated technologies, to meet
daily needs even today they are already quite overwhelmed, then to rural
communities where internet access in their area is quite complicated, they must
find good internet access so they can continue to learn, it is actually a
consideration for the government because it does not make people stay at home
while carrying out the learning process but they have to wander around to get
good internet access so they can still follow the learning process.

In the world of education, not all teachers, lecturers and students master all
technology well or in other words the mastery of technology is still low for some
people of Indonesia which makes some people confused in overcoming the online
class that is being faced today. But actually they can if they have the desire to
learn, surely they are able to do so because the principle is the teachers are human
learners who must always be ready to face the changing times while following
their development. The situation is almost the same for students, not all of them
are accustomed to using technology in their daily lives. The students who live in
rural areas, most of them are still rigid or have not mastered the technologies that
have been provided by the government.

Not everyone has the facilities and infrastructure in this online class activity
or in other terms the limitations of the facilities and infrastructure of ownership of
technology support devices are also a problem for some teachers and students. It
is no longer a public secret that the welfare of teachers in Indonesia is still very
low, so let alone to meet these things, to meet the basic needs of their families,
there are still many teachers who struggle. For example many honorary teachers
are in the low economy and there are even some teachers who teach in remote
areas who do not get a salary from the central government, they only get a helping
hand from the community. Such is the sad position of some teachers in Indonesia.
The same thing happens to students, because not all of their parents are able to
provide technological facilities to their children, being able to meet their daily
needs is quite grateful, because not all of the students are in the upper economic
class, even if even they have facilities but are not used appropriately for learning
support media but most of them choose to use technology as a means of
entertainment or to channel their own hobbies, because of parents' ignorance in
guiding their children to use technology in learning. Such is the condition of the
Indonesian people in responding to existing technologies.
Not only there is a problem of available technology, but even poor internet
access is also an obstacle to online learning systems. Online learning cannot be
separated from the use of the internet network. Not all schools are well connected
to the internet so that even the teachers are not used to using them on a daily basis.
Even if someone uses a cellular network, sometimes the network is unstable
because of the geographical location which is still far from the reach of cellular
signals. Especially for people who live in rural areas or geographical locations
that are still far from the reach of their cellular signal, it is very difficult to access
the internet. According to the opinions of some students and myself who are
experiencing the online learning process, we express our opinions, that what we
have felt during the online learning process, we find it more difficult than the
direct learning process, why? Because we who live in rural areas have to wander
around to get good internet access in order to continue to take part in learning,
because some internet access in our area is difficult to reach.
Apart from difficult internet access, several other things also become
obstacles to the online learning process. The internet network that is needed in
online learning is a problem for teachers and students. The data package
purchased for internet needs has increased and many of the teachers and parents of
students are not ready to increase the budget for providing internet networks.
Sometimes only certain internet quota can operate quickly in rural areas or in
areas whose geographical location is far from the range of cellular signals. This
certainly adds a burden to the people who are experiencing it, especially to
students where they have to pay the single tuition while buying data package that
is more wasteful than ever before.
The development of the times will require changes in civilization, and this
will have an impact on the way or methods of learning that are commonly done.
This online learning method is actually not a new thing anymore, because in some
countries, especially in some developed countries this activity is used to being
done. Moreover, the learning process in tertiary institutions, not only abroad, but
in Indonesia is also accustomed to this online learning, but for online learning at
the level of elementary school and secondary education units is not so well known
that it takes real preparation to be able to run with smooth and good. Technology
is likened to two blades, each of which has an equal role, namely the positive and
negative sides that have a major influence on the changing civilization of the
times. All aspects of life today cannot be separated from technology, especially
considering the state of our country that is experiencing a major pandemic.
Therefore, technological literacy is very important for society and the country, so
that the use of technology is truly utilized positively without harming and also has
a negative impact on the order of life.