SEMARANG, Indonesia: As schools struggle to keep pupils engaged during the pandemic, a kindergarten on Indonesia’s Java island is getting pupils back in the classroom using makeshift transparent cubicles and also sending teachers on home visits with social distancing barriers.
Permata Hati Kindergarten, a private kindergarten with 135 pupils in the city of Semarang in Central Java province, is allowing six pupils per day to spend time in the classroom, giving children a chance to attend school once every two weeks.
Central Java has recorded Indonesia’s fourth highest number of infections and at least 287 people have died in Semarang alone, according to government data.
Accompanied by parents, the children sit within protective boxes made using plastic sheets that are disinfected after each classroom session to get guidance to direct their learning.
“The transparent box is one of our commitments for prioritising health protocols,” said headmistress Hindarwati, who uses one name like many Indonesians.
Everyone attending the school is required to wear a mask, face shield, gloves and have temperature checks.
Parents uncomfortable with risking sending their children to school can choose home learning with online sessions via video conferencing applications like Zoom.
“I’m not bored at all, because I can do Zoom calls with all my friends, I can also meet my teacher. I love it,” said five-year-old Jihan Notharisa.
The learning sessions include dancing, music and Qur'an reading and the kindergarten also sends teachers to visit students at their homes, with portable protective screens for social distancing.
“As parents, we strongly support this activity, so that our children can meet with their teacher in person even though the time is limited,” said Nita Dwi Nurhayati, a mother of a pupil.
Most schools in Indonesia have not resumed full-time physical classes yet unless in “green zone” locations with fewer coronavirus cases. Overall, Indonesia has reported 98,778 COVID-19 cases and 4,781 deaths, the highest toll in East Asia.
Indonesia kindergarten explores new ways to teach over pandemic
Indonesia kindergarten explores new ways to teach over pandemic
- Everyone attending the school is required to wear a mask, face shield, gloves and have temperature checks
- Most schools in Indonesia have not resumed full-time physical classes yet
First urban cable car unveiled outside Paris
- The cable car will carry some 11,000 passengers per day in its 105 gondolas
- The 138-million-euro project was cheaper to build than a subway, officials said
PARIS: Gondolas floated above a cityscape in the southeastern suburbs of Paris Saturday as the first urban cable car in the French capital’s region was unveiled.
Officials inaugurated the C1 line in the suburb of Limeil-Brevannes in the presence of Valerie Pecresse, the head of the Ile-de-France region, and the mayors of the towns served by the cable car.
The 4.5-kilometer route connects Creteil to Villeneuve-Saint-Georges and passes through Limeil-Brevannes and Valenton.
The cable car will carry some 11,000 passengers per day in its 105 gondolas, each able to accommodate ten seated passengers.
The total journey will take 18 minutes, including stops along the way, compared to around 40 minutes by bus or car, connecting the isolated neighborhoods to the Paris metro’s line 8.
The 138-million-euro project was cheaper to build than a subway, officials said.
“An underground metro would never have seen the light of day because the budget of more than billion euros could never have been financed,” said Gregoire de Lasteyrie, vice president of the Ile-de-France regional council in charge of transport.
It is France’s seventh urban cable car, with aerial tramways already operating in cities including Brest, Saint-Denis de La Reunion and Toulouse.
Historically used to cross rugged mountain terrain, such systems are increasingly being used to link up isolated neighborhoods.
France’s first urban cable car was built in Grenoble, nestled at the foot of the Alps, in 1934. The iconic “bubbles” have become one of the symbols of the southeastern city.
