We just finished a week of semester exams. Both Class 1 and Class 2 took their test for the Department of Dive Tourism. It is and remains a strange situation because of Corona. Students attend school only 50 percent of the time, and the level of their education does not improve. The practical part also lags behind. Because of the stop on tourism, students have no opportunity to do internships and therefore gain work experience.
Even if this pandemic were stopped by next year, the students of recent years will have a backlog that will be difficult to catch up, and their chances of getting into the job market will be virtually nil. Nevertheless, we will continue!
The first Open Water dive for Class 2
We want our students to take responsibility for their own actions, and they learn that best (in my opinion) by diving. Of the current group, class 2 is almost finished with the Open Water course. Practice in the pool is done, chapters 1, 2 and 3 are done and they have made the first real open water dive.
And the other classes…
Class 3 is taking final exams next semester and as soon as the school exams are over, they will start the Rescue course.
Class 1 swims, with Instructor Davin, in the pool in Napo and learns theory related to snorkeling and the sea. These very young students still have much to learn before they can take responsibility for others. They are real adolescents with all the worries that come with it.
The school during COVID-19
The Indonesian government is extremely strict when it comes to adhering to school sanitation protocols.
There are posters everywhere in the school, mandatory temperature checks, masks are worn during official assemblies, and hand-washing stations have been installed. But to be honest, the rules are not followed very closely by the students. Most, however, have been vaccinated. But, like youth around the world, they live with a joie-de-vivre attitude.
Students who show even the slightest symptoms of colds are required to stay home, however. Self-testing is rare here, and antigen testing and swabs are done mainly by people traveling by air. When people in the small villages get sick, they stay home. Apart from the many masks that dot the streets, life goes on as usual.
Zooming with SOL
Of course, there are not a whole lot of projects going on right now, but one of the activities stands out above everything else. Our students are in contact with students from a high school sports program in Zwolle. It is a project where students share their experiences in the English language. Experiences are also exchanged about the life of these young people in both the Netherlands and Indonesia.
The first session was super exciting and came with the necessary technical problems. The time difference didn’t help either. But after the general presentations about the respective schools and cities, short one-on-one conversations were held.
Needless to say, this could be repeated: In a future session, we will debate sharks. Brendon Sing, founder of Shark Guardian, presented for both schools via Zoom and ended his presentation with several questions. So this is going to be debated in one of the next Zoom sessions with SOL… Fun, educational and exciting!
Sample exams for ICT
Prior to the official school and government exams, third grade students receive training in the use of computers. Keeping our old computers running remains a real challenge for Hengki, the head of the school and our IT technician.
