Computerized school registration in a mess

JAKARTA (JP): Parents and students have been flooding the Ministry of Education and Culture's city office over the past few days with complaints of students not being placed at selected schools.

They questioned the results of computerized student placements at state-run elementary, junior and senior high schools.

Two hundred and fifty-seven parents and students went to the ministry's posts on Tuesday for new placements at schools, the Suara Pembaruan afternoon daily reported yesterday.

The posts were opened Monday in all five mayoralties in selected schools, besides at the city office in response to various complaints.

Students placements were announced across the city on Friday. The students are obliged to report to their new schools by Tuesday.

The office's spokesman, Hadis Hadinegara, said complaints mostly covered four aspects. These were students who had received written notices of placements at state schools but were not registered at the schools.

The second most common complaint was that people had not received notices but were registered with schools as new students.

Hadis said the third most common complaint was that students with good grades had not been accepted into state schools.

"The fourth most common grievance covered mistakes in schools for which students registered," Hadis said.

A parent said she enrolled her child at a junior high school in East Jakarta but received a notice saying her child had been accepted in West Jakarta.

Suganda Wirangngapati, a committee member in charge of student selection, said mistakes could be caused by operators, "whose numbers are limited". Mistakes could also be caused by those who incorrectly filled in forms, he was quoted as saying. (anr)