Difference in learning attention between career and non-career parents during the COVID-19 pandemic in elementary school children

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted Indonesian students to transition from traditional to online learning. The role of parents, both career and non-career, in focusing on paying attention to their children's learning has also changed. The study aimed to compare learning attention between parents with careers and parents without careers before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was a comparative design with a questionnaire as the instrument. The variable measured is elementary school children's learning attention. A total sampling technique was employed, involving 64 respondents. The Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test and Mann-Whitney U Test were used in data analysis. The findings indicated a significant difference in the learning attention of parents with careers before and after the COVID-19 pandemic (p-value = 0.000). Similarly, parents without careers also exhibited a significant difference in learning attention before and after the pandemic (p-value = 0.000). Notably, within both the career and non-career parent groups, there was a substantial difference in the learning attention provided to their children before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. These results highlight the significant impact of the pandemic on parental involvement in their children's education. The findings emphasize the need for parents to be conscious of their responsibilities in the face of the unique demands posed by the pandemic, underlining the crucial role they play in supporting their children's education.