Long-term remote learning could spur dropouts and increase the number of child marriages among students, according to the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI).
"KPAI's observation showed a high likelihood of increased dropouts and child marriages arising from remote learning due to the pandemic," KPAI Commissioner for Education Retno Listyarti noted in a statement here on Friday.
Listyarti noted that the KPAI had received complaints from parents about difficulties in paying the school fees, especially for students of private schools. Several parents had sought a discount in school fees on grounds that the children are learning from home.
Listyanti affirmed that the long-term implementation of distance learning had become one factor triggering dropouts.
Students not having facilities for distance learning could miss out on the opportunity to learn and decide to quit school. Some then worked to help their jobless parents, while several others decided to get married.
The Directorate General of the religious court received 34 thousand applications for marriage dispensation during the period from January to June 2020, of which 60 percent were submitted by children under 18 years of age.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated that the imposition of social restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic had deprived children from engaging in normal activities and from availing reproductive health services.
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