Children's Future Adversity: Learning Loss Risk during Online Learning in Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

School closure policies during the covid-19 pandemic have changed from face-toface to online learning. This change inevitably impacts the unpreparedness of schools, parents, and students in managing learning, which may cause learning loss in children. On its official page, the Indonesian Ministry of Education stated that due to the covid-19 pandemic, the implementation of online learning had caused a significant learning loss. This study analyses the risk of learning loss due to online learning in Indonesia in terms of children’s future adversity. This study used a qualitative descriptive method with survey techniques using Google Form and data analysis used the Miles and Huberman model through three stages: reduction, display, and data verification. This study involved 1229 elementary school students spread over 82 cities from 34 provinces in Indonesia. The results showed that there has been learning loss in children in the form of low academic and life skills achievement indicated by difficulty in understanding subject matters (cognitive domain), lack of confidence in expressing opinions (affective domain), and difficulty in accomplishing projects or learning tasks (psychomotor domain). The implication of learning loss is the decline in the quality of abilities, academic achievement, competitiveness, and welfare of children in the future. The results of this research could be recommended as a reference for educational practitioners and insights for future research.