Protecting Your Children's Future

Tasya Aprilia Agatha lost her father to COVID-19. It left the family struggling to survive. As a delivery driver and sole breadwinner, he used to earn just enough for the family every month. With his death, an alternative source of income was needed, and Tasya had to step up. Six days a week, she wakes at 4am to help her mother run a makeshift food stall, while juggling school and working in a cafe. She gets about four hours’ sleep a day.

The high school senior in Kediri city in East Java dreams of going to university and becoming a businesswoman. But with her punishing schedule, her school grades have slipped. Many other students in Indonesia have dropped out amid the pandemic.

Dropped Out - About 2 per cent of children aged five to 18 who had been enrolled in school up to March 2020 were no longer enrolled in November 2020. That is about 1.3 million students. The most cited reason for dropping out was lack of money to pay school fees.

Even for those in school, the long periods of lockdown posed a challenge when classes had to move online. Most of the parents — who are in the medium- and low-income brackets — may also be unable to provide what the students need most: Adequate internet connection.

Although more schools have reopened, catching up on what students have missed is another challenge. Only 30 per cent of Indonesian children achieved minimum scores in reading on the Program for International Student Assessment before the pandemic.

School closures precipitated by the pandemic could result in a loss of between 25 and 35 points, on average, on students’ reading scores. Increased drop-out rate from school closures puts children at risk of child marriage and exploitative activities. Child marriage and child labour are “on the rise” owing to the unavoidable “economic pressure” from the pandemic.

But once the children drop out, they are left with no option but to join the workforce. After earning money, some do not turn back.

Guardians - The odds are stacked even higher against children who are left with no one to care for them. An estimated 34,000 Indonesian children have lost one or both parents to COVID-19. To protect orphans, the Indonesian government has legislation in place when it comes to finding substitute carers, with immediate family members called upon first.

But even if a suitable carer is found, financial help is also often necessary.