National exams highlight RI's education gap<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
School officials in several regions doubt their students will be
\nable to pass the national exams that were held over the last two
\nweeks because of disparities in education standards in the
\ncountry, the National Education Standardization Body (BSNP)
\nreported.<\/p>\n
\"We have received many complaints from provinces outside Java
\nwhere schools doubt whether their students can pass the national
\nexam,\" BSNP chairman Bambang Suhendro told The Jakarta Post on
\nFriday, adding that the body was still compiling data to assess
\nthe significance of the complaints.<\/p>\n
Educational experts have long been concerned by the gaps in
\nthe quality of schools nationwide, and have criticized the
\nMinistry of National Education's decision to measure students'
\nacademic ability through centralized national examinations.<\/p>\n
Hutomo Dananjaya of Paramadina University's Center for
\nEducation Reform said the quality of schools was very diverse,
\nvarying from excellent to poor. \"That is exactly why a national
\nexam is not suitable.\"<\/p>\n
Downplaying the reports, Bambang said the country needed a
\nnational exam that could determine where gaps occurred and
\nallocate resources accordingly.<\/p>\n
However, teachers and academics doubt the national final
\nexamination, as conceptualized by the government, will be able to
\nnarrow the gaps among schools across the country, unless efforts
\nare made to upgrade the quality of both the schools'
\ninfrastructure and their teachers.<\/p>\n
BSNP, Bambang said, had to introduce a long-term project on
\nthe standardization of educational concepts, management and human
\nresources. \"That will take some time because we need to consult
\nwith experts,\" he said, promising to involve the public in the
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
Regarding the national exam itself, the evaluation body does
\nnot see the need for a new approach. \"If the mechanisms for
\norganizing the national exams are already good, why change them,\"
\nBambang said.<\/p>\n
There were some technical problems reported in the just
\nconcluded examination process. Local media reported that several
\nprovinces, such as Aceh, did not receive the promised operational
\nfunds for the exams.<\/p>\n
Other problems included the leakage of examination materials,
\nwhich necessitated some students having to retake the exam. This
\nproblem occurred with the English exam for junior high school
\nstudents in Bengkulu.<\/p>\n
BSNP is scheduled to finish processing the results of the
\nnational examinations by the end of June and will then return
\nthem to the provinces. \"Schools can announce whether or not the
\nstudents' passed on July 1 and July 2,\" BSNP member Djemari
\nMardapi said, adding that whether students passed did not depend
\nsolely on the results of the exam.<\/p>\n
A second round of national examinations is set for Oct. 3
\nthrough Oct. 5 for junior high school students, and Oct. 10
\nthrough Oct. 12 for high school students. This second round of
\nexams is for students who were unable to take this month's exams
\nand for those who failed the tests.(003)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/national-exams-highlight-ris-education-gap-1447893297",
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