Examining the Internet Quota Subsidy Policy in Indonesia

Abstract

The pandemic in Indonesia requires a moving from offline learning to online learning to reduce the spread of COVID-19. However, that practice facing some problem like the increment households spending for internet access, and inequality access technology. As a form of accountability and responsibility for these problems, the Indonesian government by the Ministry of Education and Culture made a policy of subsidizing internet quota for all teachers, students, and lecturers for four months. This subsidy was made to support distance learning during the pandemic. This article aims to examine the implementation of the internet quota subsidy policy. The literature review method is carried out by looking at previous research related to aid/subsidies policies during the crisis, policy implementation, and internet quota subsidy in Indonesia. The sources were collected from articles, reports, and mass media. The results show that looking at the output and the initiation, this policy has been running quite well as part of the government's agility response. However, this policy was not effective enough to support distance learning during the pandemic as a whole in Indonesia. Several findings indicate there is inequality of internet access in some outlying areas where the benefits of this policy cannot be felt.

Evaluation of Online Learning During COVID-19

“…It costs a lot of money to get a quota with a huge capacity. Students will undoubtedly be affected by this condition, especially during the epidemic (45,46). Even amid the Covid pandemic, lectures must go on regardless of the situation.…”

Students’ Perception on The Use of WhatsApp for Learning Writing During Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case Study

“…Both those students who use Wi-Fi or cellular data for learning needs said that WhatsApp does not require a high cost. Students get an internet subsidy every month from the government that helps them in accessing WhatsApp (Sajida & Ranjani, 2020).…”

“…Since the emergence of positive COVID-19 patient cases in Indonesia, the government, through the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Religion of the Republic of Indonesia, has implemented a policy of learning and working from home since mid-March 2020 (Bernadetha, 2020). Thus, the government is also working on subsidized internet to facilitate distance learning conducted via gadgets such as PC or cellular phone (Sajida & Ranjani, 2020).…”

WhatsApp Group: Online Media for Early Childhood Learning during the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…This additional angle of the present research becomes the novelty of the research at which the school management report these obstacles to the regional government in order to get subsidy of free quota data for internet access. In the next semester, the government through the Ministry of Education and Culture provided the subsidy of free quota data for internet access for both teachers and students to support the online learning process during the Covid-19 Pandemic (Sajida & Ranjani, 2020;Dahiya, et al, 2021).…”