Cakap Helps Sustaining the Studying and Learning Activities Amidst the Outbreak of COVID-19 in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia, March 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The policy to implement the learning system digitally is very important during the pandemic of coronavirus. According to WHO reports and real-time data in March, cases of coronavirus reached 125,048 people. As a response to this problem, Cakap, as one of the ed-tech providers in Indonesia, expressed its readiness to provide an online platform as an alternative for teaching and learning activities in Indonesia.

Cakap's Application Interface

By using two-way interaction methods, Cakap developed a solution for service in education or commonly known Education As A Service (EAAS). "Health must be prioritized amid the outbreak of the Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic. With the technology in the field of education that we have developed, we hoped that we are able to help teaching and learning activities safely through long-distance learning. We are ready to help the government, educational institutions, and the people of Indonesia to fight COVID-19 by providing the technology and access to learning online," said Tomy Yunus, CEO of Cakap.

According to the United Nations, 22 countries have imposed or planned to close schools, halting teaching and learning activities. More than 290 million students worldwide will be affected by the policy. Countries such as the United States, Saudi Arabia, China, Italy, and 10 other countries have closed their school on a national scale. 

Indonesia is one of the countries affected by the spread of COVID-19, especially in Jakarta. Various measures have been taken to limit the spread of infection, such as limited mass gathering activities, isolation of epicenter areas, closing multiple public activities, limiting restaurant hours, and the latest being school closures and halting teaching and learning activities for two weeks.

At his press conference, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan stated, "Children are less infected by the COVID-19. But they are the potential contagions of the widespread of the Corona Virus." Jakarta, Saturday (14/3/2020).

In addition, Anies appealed, not only to close formal schools but also the informal as well as non-formal education institutions. He urgently requested to minimize the close contact among people. As a solution to this pertinent issue, he suggested studying and learning activities to be conducted online.

Some countries/regions and have implemented online learning systems to continue teaching and learning activities, such as:

1. Hong Kong, with students who have not returned to school since the Chinese New Year holiday. The Hong Kong government says schools will close until at least April 20, so the learning process will be done in the e-learning system. 
2. The Middle East. Several countries in the Middle East have closed their schools; one of them is Saudi Arabia, which began closing schools on Monday, March 9. To ensure the continuation of the learning process, the government of Saudi Arabia applied online learning system. 
3. The United States, which was also affected by the spread of the coronavirus, also closed schools and universities. One of them is in New York that has implemented an online learning system, which enables students to learn via video conference platform. Several universities have also implemented online classes with the outbreak of the Coronavirus in New York.
4. Italy has closed schools since March 5, 2020. Several schools have implemented online learning by recording all their lessons via WhatsApp, while several other schools use web-learning platform to ensure lessons continue.

The impact of the spread of coronavirus was also experienced by one of the Mandarin Language teachers in Cakap who lives in Chongqing, China. With all the limitations that occur, various methods are used to continue daily activities. One of them is by utilizing technology. "Technology and the internet helped me to be able to continue teaching by face-to-face with my students, without having to leave home," said Sarah Shen, a master's graduate from Beijing Language Culture University, while closing her explanation via teleconference.

About Cakap

Cakap is a startup company that develops online language learning applications with two-way interaction between students and professional teachers through video calls and text conversations. Cakap available on Google Play and the App Store to reach different student segments because everyone has the right to quality education anytime and anywhere. Aside from foreign language learning, Cakap also provides the program "Education as A Service" for several educational institutes and government under Squline.

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