Students in tsunami-ravaged Aceh sit their final exams<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Jakarta<\/p>\n
With hundreds of schools still in ruins, many senior high school
\nstudents put the devastation of the Dec. 26 tsunami behind them
\non Monday, turning up in Banda Aceh to take their national final
\nexaminations.<\/p>\n
At the SMU 1 senior high school in the city, a school only
\npartially damaged by the waves, at least 378 students began the
\nthree days of examinations on Monday.<\/p>\n
\"There should have been 430 students taking part in these
\nexaminations, but some of them died in the disaster,\" the
\nschool's principal, Sanusi Harun, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The school lost 260 of its 1,132 students in the tsunami,
\nmostly those who lived nearby, Sanusi said.<\/p>\n
It had taken in 40 new students whose schools were completely
\ndestroyed by the tsunami, he said. Most of them were first and
\nsecond-year students from the Lhoknga, Leupung, Peukan Bada and
\nLhoong districts.<\/p>\n
\"Only one student from another (destroyed) school is taking
\npart in the (final) examinations.\"<\/p>\n
The tsunami is estimated to have caused Rp 1 trillion
\n(US$107.52 million) in damage to the education sector in the
\nprovince, destroying buildings, important documents and
\nspecialized equipment and killing hundreds of teachers.<\/p>\n
The bureaucratic nightmare of replacing school records is
\ncurrently underway, while letters of confirmation will be issued
\nin place of graduation certificates.<\/p>\n
Aceh Education Office head Teuku Alamsyah Banta said there
\nwere currently 126,000 students from the province taking part in
\nthe national final exams. About 580 vocational school students
\nhad to take their exams outside or in makeshift buildings because
\ntheir schools had been destroyed, he said.<\/p>\n
\"There are still around 1,000 students studying in tents in
\nplaces like Aceh Jaya and Simeulue,\" Teuku said.<\/p>\n
Teuku said he could not predict how students would fare in the
\nexaminations and how much the disrupting effect of the disaster
\nwould end up affecting their marks.<\/p>\n
\"If this examination is done badly, we can repeat it again in
\nOctober,\" Teuku said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the nationwide examination this year did not
\nsurprise high school students in Jakarta as the questions were
\nnot much different to previous years.<\/p>\n
\"We have done several try-outs using previous tests and
\ntoday's test was similar,\" said Vindy, a student of SMU 34 senior
\nhigh school in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The fact that this year's examination was not much different
\nto previous years raised criticism from experts. Last year, the
\npassing grade index was set at 4.01, while this year a student
\nmust get an average of 4.26 to graduate from high school.<\/p>\n
Director of Paramadina University's Institute for Educational
\nReform, Hutomo Dananjaya, said the examination was a mere
\n\"centralistic\" policy to measure the country's educational
\nquality.<\/p>\n
\"There is a wide gap between schools in this country. The
\ngovernment cannot use the same exam to decide passing students
\nfrom schools of different quality,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He expressed fear that such exams would make both students and
\nteachers only pursue the required grade instead of attempting to
\nacquire a full comprehension of school subjects.<\/p>\n
A member of the National Education Standardization Body, Seto
\nMulyadi, admitted that the body, which was set up this year to
\norganize and oversee the national examinations, is not yet fully
\noperational.<\/p>\n
\"We will only monitor and then evaluate this year's exam,\" he
\nsaid. \"And we'll also evaluate whether the raising of this year's
\npassing grade violates a child's basic rights.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-in-tsunami-ravaged-aceh-sit-their-final-exams-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}