Crackdown on people 'jockeying' test for dishonest students
JAKARTA (JP): The organizing committee of the state university entrance test (UMPTN) will apply a special method to minimize the role of jockeys, people who are paid to take the tests in the names of aspiring students.
Rector of the University of Indonesia M.K. Tadjudin told reporters yesterday that as the chief UMPTN coordinator for region A, he has arranged to prevent this form of cheating.
Tadjudin refused to elaborate on his plans though, saying that disclosure would only enable jockeys to improve their chances.
Region A covers 17 state universities in all of Sumatra provinces, Jakarta and West Java.
He added that in order to ensure the integrity of the test, 8,691 people, including 434 policemen and 150 "secret" officials, will be employed to monitor them. The latter's duties will include guarding the test during transportation from the committee's headquarters to the test sites. The examination will take place on June 21 and June 22.
According to Tadjudin, the University of Indonesia (UI) found two students who used the services of jockey for the 1993 UMPTN. However, with the new control system he expects to reduce the figure to zero.
Soesmalijah Soewondo, who led UMPTN's coordinating committee for Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post that some jockeys receive the support from powerful figures.
"Its organized crime," she added.
The UMPTN is managed and supervised by the Ministry of Education and Culture. As Indonesia's most prestigious exam, it is designed to select outstanding high school graduates throughout the country for entry at 45 state universities.
For the last three years approximately 450,000 students have taken the test. They have competed for around 60,000 seats in the state universities.
Reference
The limited number of seats at state-run universities is partly the result of powerful figures using their influence to reserves spots at state universities for their children or relatives.
However, Tadjudin stressed that UI, one of the most prestigious campuses in the country, will not select its student body based on social status or katebeletje (reference letters issued by powerful figures). He emphasized that UI has never allotted seats for the rich, famous and powerful.
The UI campus played a major role in ousting the Old Order led by the late president Sukarno in 1965. Currently, UI is also the campus of choice for the children of either high ranking officials or business tycoons.
Tadjudin also said the number of UMPTN applicants has decreased in the past few years, from 479,669 in 1991 to 436,517 in 1992. The number went lower to 422,696 last year.
Of those who took the test in 1993, only 14.5 percent or 61,069 students, passed. Tadjudin added that the committee will only take 61,578 students this year.
According to Tadjudin, the decrease is due partly to the fact that more people want to study subjects not available at the state university. Another factor is the improvement in the quality of some private universities aside from the fact that more and more people are "realistic" enough to not take the test as they realize that they will not pass.
Despite the lower number of aspiring students, the participants from the greater Jakarta area increased from 65,026 in 1992 to 75,000 this year.
Braille
Tadjudin, who was accompanied by the rector of the Jakarta Teacher's Training Institute (IKIP), Anna Suhaenah Suparno, said that this year the committee has arranged a Braille examination sheet for the blind.
Tadjudin explained that the use of Braille was initiated after Education and Culture Minister Wardiman Djojonegoro visited the exam locations for the blinds last year.
"He saw that an impractical method was applied for the blind applicants, in which they were accompanied by an assistant to read the examination for them," he said.
He said the committee has purchased a special printer for US$10,000 to produce the exam in Braille.
Tadjudin also announced that starting today, all UMPTN participants in Jakarta can pay the exam fees, which range from Rp 25,000 ($11.6) to Rp 40,000 ($18.5) at Bank BNI. On June 6 the participants can obtain the UMPTN forms by showing the bank receipts to the local exam committees. The deadline for applications is June 17.(03)