Day: September 14, 2021

The Palu municipal authority has lauded humanitarian organization Turkish Red Crescent’s assistance in the reconstruction of an elementary school to support the city’s recovery program following the earthquake and tsunami of September 2018.

“Representing Palu authority and residents, I expressed our gratitude for humanitarian assistance from Turkey and other parties involved in our reconstruction effort following the September 28, 2018 earthquake and tsunami disaster,” Deputy Mayor of Palu, Reny A Lamadjido, stated during the handing over ceremony of the Poboya Public Elementary School building in Palu, Central Sulawesi on Tuesday.

She said the completion of the school building would help revive the quality of education and kickstart school activities in the region, which was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami three years ago.

“The Palu authority welcomes all humanitarian organizations who want to participate in the recovery effort for the best interest of the survivors,” Lamadjido said. She said she hoped the Turkish Red Crescent would continue to contribute to other reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in the city.

She also deemed the organization’s role in recovery efforts as evidence of Indonesian-Turkish friendship.

“The Turkish humanitarian organization did not only participate in school reconstruction, but also provided medical support during the disaster response period after the earthquake,” Lamadjido noted.

Meanwhile, a representative from the Turkish Red Crescent, Teyfik Cem Binatli, said the organization had spent around Rp6.8 billion (around US$476 thousand) on the reconstruction of the Poboya Public Elementary School. Work on the school commenced in 2020.

The facilities at the two-storied school include classrooms, a teachers office, sports facilities, and a prayer room, Binatli said adding, the school building design follows the Turkish architecture style.

“We are glad to see the completion of the building, and we hope the school would provide a safe learning environment for the students,” Binatli remarked.

The Turkish Red Crescent was one of the first responders to assist the Indonesian Red Cross in disaster recovery efforts in Palu, he said. The organization dispatched personnel from its Bangladesh office and provided assistance via two military cargo aircraft, which arrived at the city’s airport on October 9, 2018.

Source: Antara News

The West Sumatra provincial government held a mass vaccination campaign to target 250 thousand students of high schools, vocational schools, and education facilities in the area to accelerate the achievement of youth vaccinations.

“The mass vaccination for students aims to accelerate the achievement of youth vaccinations, which are still low in West Sumatra, as well as to make face-to-face learning possible,” West Sumatra Deputy Governor Audy Joinaldy stated at the launch of the program at the State High School 6 Padang on Tuesday.

Currently, the first dose of vaccination for adolescents in West Sumatra reached only around 4.5 percent, while the second dose is even lower, capped at around two percent, he stated.

The provincial and district governments are required to make efforts and offer encouragement in order to accelerate achievement of the youth vaccination rate. One example of this effort is apparent from the vaccination campaign conducted by the West Sumatra provincial government.

After being launched offline at the State High School 6 Padang, all districts and cities in West Sumatra will commence the vaccination program in accordance with the region’s technical readiness.

Joinaldy emphasized that the current vaccine stocks in West Sumatra still sufficed to meet the vaccination requirements, so district and city governments need not harbor concerns, as they can host as many vaccination programs as possible.

“If the stocks in the district or city are falling short, please contact the West Sumatra Health Office directly. We will immediately send it according to the needs,” he clarified.

Joinaldy also compelled vaccinated students to invite their friends to get inoculated too. Thus, face-to-face learning can be recommenced at the earliest.

In fact, he also appealed to parents or guardians of students to participate in vaccination programs with their children in the mass vaccination program.

“Please, parents, who want to be vaccinated, may come along with their children to school to get vaccinated. All will be served by the available officers. If later it turns out that the vaccine is lacking, we will supply it again from the province,” he noted.

Joinaldy expects this step to boost vaccination in Padang, so that the level of community activities restriction would decrease from level 4 and enable students to return to study, albeit with some limitations.

Chairman of Committee V of the West Sumatra Regional House of Representatives Mukhlis Yusuf Abit lauded the West Sumatra provincial government for hosting the vaccination event for these students.

Abit deemed the vaccination as being the most logical effort to control the COVID-19 pandemic, thus calling for it to be supported by various parties.

“The Regional House of Representatives fully supports this program and hopes that the vaccination rate in West Sumatra would increase significantly,” he remarked.

However, he reminded the vaccinated participants to continue to follow health protocols daily to prevent transmission of the virus.

Head of the West Sumatra Education Office Adib Alfikri remarked that all those studying in high school, vocational, and special schools in the province partook in the vaccination for students.

“The implementation of vaccination also requires permission from the parents of the students. We hope that no one refuses, so that the vaccination rate would be achieved as soon as possible, and face-to-face schooling can also be started,” he remarked.

Source: Antara News

Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim urged schools in regions with the activities restrictions enforcement (PPKM) status at levels 1-3 to not hesitate to hold face-to-face offline school activities.

“All schools in regions with the PPKM status at level 1-3 can start offline school activities immediately,” Minister Makarim stated after a meeting with Yogyakarta Governor Hamengku Buwono X in Yogyakarta, Tuesday.

Makarim emphasized that schools should not delay offline learning activities, pending completion of vaccination of teachers and students, as the national vaccination coverage for teachers has reached around 60 percent.

The minister reiterated that vaccination coverage was not considered as an eligibility criterion for schools to commence offline activities. He instead urged schools with vaccinated teachers to start face-to-face offline school activities at the earliest. Despite urging schools to commence offline activities, Minister Makarim reminded that the pupils’ parents had the final say on allowing their children to attend offline activities at school.

“The final decision rests with the parents, and they should not be coerced (to allow their children to attend offline school activities). School should facilitate distance learning if parents are not consenting to send their children to attend offline school,” Makarim stated.

The education minister explained that the joint decision of four ministers on learning activities during the COVID-19 pandemic offered flexibility for the regional authority to plan and implement face-to-face offline school activities in the region.

The joint decision only sets a maximum attendance of 18 pupils in one classroom and a maximum of five pupils per classroom for pre-school level and instructs strict health protocol enforcement, school canteen closure, and restricts extra-curricular activities.

“The joint decision does not restrict or elucidate the school days or hours permitted for offline school activities,” he stated.

Makarim informed that the school is free to utilize the government-provided school operational funding for offline school activities.

“We allowed schools to utilize the fund for preparations to hold offline school activities. We also expect the regional education office heads to consider assisting private schools heavily affected by the pandemic,” Minister Makarim affirmed.

Source: Antara News