Students accept failure, hopes to repeat exams<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Surabaya, Yogyakarta\/Aceh<\/p>\n
As her school friends cheer in happiness, Ninik quietly sobs. A
\nstudent at a vocational school in Surabaya, she had has just
\nlearned that she failed to pass the national final examinations.<\/p>\n
\"Please don't cry, let's go home,\" one of her friends tried to
\nconsole Ninik, but she just kept staring morosely at her uniform,
\nalready signed by her friends in colorful spray paint, a common
\npractice among newly graduated students.<\/p>\n
Ninik is one of many senior high school students who failed
\nthe exams in Surabaya city. Last year, only some 566 senior high
\nschool students failed, but this year the number increased
\nsharply to 2,555 students.<\/p>\n
In East Java province, out of 31,000 senior high school
\nstudents and 24,300 junior high school students, some 56,000
\nfailed this year's national final examinations.<\/p>\n
East Java Education Office director Rasiyo blamed the rising
\nnumber of fails on the increase in the standard pass grade from
\n4.01 previously to 4.26 this year. \"It's all caused by this
\nincrease in the pass grade,\" said Rasiyo.<\/p>\n
However, considering that many students across the country had
\nfailed the exams, the province's results were not too bad, he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
The students who failed the exams will be given extra lessons
\nbefore sitting repeat exams from Aug. 23 to Aug. 25.<\/p>\n
\"If they can achieve the standard pass grade of 4.26 in the
\nrepeats, then they're through,\" Rasiyo said.<\/p>\n
A member of the Surabaya Education Board, Anita Lie, said the
\nincrease in the failure rate clearly showed that the national
\neducation system was inadequate.<\/p>\n
\"It demonstrates that the national education system is at
\nfault,\" she told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
A major mistake, she said, was increasing the standard without
\nconsidering different cultural circumstances around the country.<\/p>\n
\"Papuan and Javanese students should not be treated the same
\nas regards teaching methods,\" said Anita, a lecturer at Petra
\nChristian University.<\/p>\n
She urged the government not to dictate education policy in
\nthe regions. \"The party that has the right to determine whether a
\nstudent passes the exams or not is the respective school. The
\ncentral government only provides platforms and systems, while
\nimplementation is up to the school,\" she said.<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta, some 18,657 out of 86,818 junior and senior
\nhigh school students failed the examinations.<\/p>\n
An official at the province's education office, Baskoro Aji,
\nalso blamed the increase in the pass grade for the increase in
\nthe failure rate.<\/p>\n
The head teacher at State Senior High School No. 7 in
\nYogyakarta, Timbul Mulyanto, said that seven of his 230 students
\ntaking part in the exams had failed. Surprisingly, three of the
\nseven students had already been accepted by Gadjah Mada
\nUniversity in Yogyakarta this year.<\/p>\n
\"The students mostly failed math and English,\" Timbul said.<\/p>\n
In some schools, the failure rate was very high. At Junior
\nHigh School No. 15 in Yogyakarta, for instance, 62 of 392
\nstudents failed the tests.<\/p>\n
In Banda Aceh, the news that over 40 percent of students
\nfailed the national final examinations was greeted by mixed
\nreactions from students -- some sobbed while others appeared
\nstunned.<\/p>\n
Heni broke into tears when she found that her name was absent
\nfrom the list of students who passed at State Senior High School
\nNo. 3 in Banda Aceh. \"Don't cry, we can still sit the repeats,\" a
\nfriend told her.<\/p>\n
Other students were angry. \"The tests were too difficult. Many
\nof us did not have the chance to study. Out school was closed for
\na month as it was covered in mud by the tsunami,\" complained one
\nstudent.<\/p>\n
Some 20 percent of students in the school, which used to be
\none of the top schools in the city, failed the exams.<\/p>\n
Overall, at least 48,000 of the 111,882 students in Aceh
\nsitting the tests, or about 42 percent, failed the exams. Last
\nyear, the figure was 33.3 percent.<\/p>\n
In some areas, like Aceh Jaya and Aceh Besar regencies, there
\nwere schools in which 100 percent of the students failed.<\/p>\n
According to the director of the Aceh Education Office, Teuku
\nAlamsyah Banta, students failed on account of several reasons,
\nincluding the tsunami, the continuing conflict in the province,
\nand the increase in the required pass grade.<\/p>\n
\"The tsunami forced many schools to close, making it hard to
\nachieve the curriculum targets, not to mention the fact that some
\nschools were damaged or totally destroyed by the disaster,\" Teuku
\ntold the Post on Thursday.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-accept-failure-hopes-to-repeat-exams-1447893297",
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