Solo to Start In-Person Learning with 100 Percent School Capacity Next Week

TheIndonesia.co - Solo is set to follow in Jakarta’s footsteps by allowing in-person learning at schools with 100 percent capacity.

Solo mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka confirmed that plan will start next week, and it will be done gradually and start with students in the ninth grade.

“Next week, in-person learning is already [with] 100 percent [capacity], but for now, it’s only for the ninth graders,” Raka said on Wednesday, January 5, adding that students in the eighth grade will start the in-person learning in the following week, and so on.

The target is to have all schools implementing the plan by February.

The gradual implementation is also due the fact that not all students have been vaccinated. Furthermore, the younger students were recently given immunization during the school immunization month program (BIAS), and there’s a regulated interval before they can receive COVID-19 vaccine.

“Some students participated in BIAS, and they have to wait for several weeks. We’re prioritizing BIAS over COVID-19 vaccine," the mayor said.

The authority expect all students to have been vaccinated by January in order to be able to conduct a safe in-person learning at schools with 100 percent capacity.

“We’re looking after the younger ones, and we want it to be safe. We will monitor if there’s case surge. We must be careful, especially for the ones aged six to 11,” he explained.

Previously, on Monday, Jakarta provincial government started to allow in-person learning at schools with 100 percent capacity.

The policy is in accordance with Joint Ministerial Decree (SKB) of Four Ministers on learning activities during COVID-19 pandemic. Jakarta’s education office also issued a regulation that maps out the rules that must be implemented by schools during the in-person learning.