UNAIR NEWS – International Development Student Conference 2020 Faculty of Economics and Business UNAIR 2020 (IDSC 2020 FEB UNAIR) is in its second week. IDSC 2020 is a webinar activity from a series of annual activities called Economic Week 2020. This time, singer and actress, Shafa Tasya Kamila, was invited as a speaker to discuss “The Importance of Education in Times of Crisis” on Saturday afternoon, September 28, 2020. This webinar was moderated by Syafril Riza, S.E., M.M., CT., a founder of Today Solution and Passion Enthusiast.
The webinar was done with a question and answer method between the moderator and the speaker. First, Tasya said that the COVID-19 pandemic is a catalyst in the development of online education in Indonesia. However, according to her, not all regions in Indonesia are ready to face and adopt this method. She said that until now, regional education has only been effective in a few areas, especially in big cities. Challenges in the form of a lack of infrastructure to accommodate online education still occur in 3T (the outermost, frontline and disadvantaged) regions.
“This infrastructure problem is not only for the school students or college students, but also for the teachers as well. In fact, not all individuals involved in Indonesian education have equal internet access and that is an issue that the government must step in, “said the Columbia University alumna.
On this occasion, the moderator mentioned that online education is like everything else in the world, there are always two sides of them and Tasya agreed with that statement. The graduate of Faculty of Economics, University of Indonesia explained that the positive side of online learning is that students are required to be more independent in learning and looking for their own learning materials. On the negative side, she said that online learning is minimal in human touch so it often becomes boring.
“The infrastructure challenge that I have described earlier is indeed a very big distraction because being comfortable in our own homes are some of the melancholy aspects of online learning that we must apply now,” she explained.
Furthermore, on that occasion she also invited the IDSC participants and teachers not to give up being technology illiterate because technology can be learned and it is the only solution in this crisis to get and provide quality education.
“Adjusting the learning time is also the key to be successful in this online learning because the distraction from the comfort at home often makes us forget our goals. We also have to motivate ourselves to make this period your moment to develop self to be a capable individual,” Tasya said.
At the end, Tasya is also optimistic that the COVID-19 pandemic will end and this online education will only be temporary. After that, everyone can return to normal and get education with human touch. She also reminded participants who can take online education with minimal problems should be grateful for this privilege because not everyone has this luxury.
“Pandemics can be a lonely time for some due to boredom of staying at home for very long time. Therefore, we have to stay in touch more often with people we care about because mental health is something we really need to get through in this crisis, “she concluded.
Author: Pradnya Wicaksana
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
