New system promises fair admissions<\/p>\n
Leony Aurora , Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Junior\/High School Education Agency gave its
\nassurance that admissions to state senior and vocational high
\nschools would be determined strictly by their academic
\nachievements.<\/p>\n
Agency head Margani Mustar said on Tuesday that \"special
\nrecommendations\", which were commonly used in previous years to
\nensure the enrollment of some students, would not be permitted.<\/p>\n
\"I have ordered state schools that they only accept students
\nthrough the city's computerized admission system,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Using the new system, students can submit applications for up
\nto five preferred schools. The computer program runs students'
\ngrade point average (GPA) -- calculated from their scores on the
\nnational exams in Mathematics, Bahasa Indonesia and English --
\nagainst the minimum GPA criteria of their chosen schools until it
\nfinds a match.<\/p>\n
\"There will be no human intervention, everything is ruled by
\nthe system,\" Margani said.<\/p>\n
He asserted the GPAs entered into the system would be those
\nfrom agency records, not from student transcripts -- which are
\nattached to their diplomas.<\/p>\n
\"Admission officials will only enter students' names and
\nregistration numbers. Their grades will be taken from the
\n(agency's) database,\" he explained. \"This way, we can eliminate
\nfake diplomas.\"<\/p>\n
The Ministry of National Education announced the national exam
\nresults for junior high school students on Monday: Only 8.13
\npercent of Jakarta's 117,652 students that took the exams, or
\n9,562 students, did not pass.<\/p>\n
Kamaluddin, head of the junior high school office at the city
\nelementary school education agency, said only 804 of 11,881
\nIslamic junior high school students who took the exams had
\nfailed.<\/p>\n
Available admission space at state and private senior high and
\nvocational schools totals 186,146, or 42 percent more than the
\n130,431 junior high graduates.<\/p>\n
Similarly, only 127,216 students -- of which 9,656 are from
\nGreater Jakarta -- have taken the junior high entrance exams for
\nenrolment at Jakarta schools, less than the 149,077 admission
\nspace available.<\/p>\n
\"Some 6,000 students have been granted an exam waiver for
\nadmission,\" said Kamaluddin, such as in Kepulauan Seribu regency
\nor those entering \"open\", or correspondence, junior high schools.<\/p>\n
\"Approximately 15,000 seats in junior high schools will be
\nvacant this academic year.\"<\/p>\n
I-box
\nAdmission guidelines for senior high schools:
\n* Parents may visit any state senior\/vocational high school and
\napply for a maximum of five preferred schools -- or three for
\nvocational schools; no application fee
\n* Students' admissions GPAs are calculated from national exam
\nresults in English, Bahasa Indonesia and Mathematics
\n* Student GPAs are run through a computer program against minimum
\ngrade criteria of chosen schools to find a match
\n* Students not accepted by any of their five preferences may
\nresubmit their application forms with five new options during the
\nJuly 9-12 admission period
\n* Parents can monitor application status at www.dikmentidki.psb-
\nonline.or.id or by sending an SMS containing the text \"unibraw
\npsb jkt\" (registration number) to 5252 for Indosat users and 7890
\nfor Telkomsel users:
\n* Admission results will be announced at 8 a.m., July 13 at
\nindividual schools and on official website
\n* Registration period is from July 13 to July 15; registration is
\nconducted by individual schools
\n* A second admission period will be held from July 16 to July 17
\nto fill remaining admission spaces<\/p>\n
Source: Jakarta Junior\/High School Education Agency<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-system-promises-fair-admissions-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }