DPR Speaker pushes for strengthened oversight system to prevent UTBK cheating

Jakarta (ANTARA) - DPR RI Speaker Puan Maharani is pushing for the strengthening of monitoring systems to prevent repeated cheating in the implementation of the Computer-Based Written Examination for the National Selection Based on Tests (UTBK SNBT). “Various findings of cheating that still occur in the 2026 UTBK pose a challenge to the integrity of the national education competition,” Puan said in a statement received in Jakarta on Friday. She highlighted the prevalence of cheating in the UTBK SNBT 2026, which began on 21 April. A total of 2,640 participants were indicated to have engaged in cheating. The committee discovered various methods, ranging from the use of proxies with fake identities, document forgery, hidden communication devices, to manipulative tactics to deceive supervisors. In addition, the committee also detected the presence of joki syndicates that are now facing criminal sanctions. According to Puan, this cheating is not merely an individual violation but a recurring pattern with increasingly complex techniques. This reflects the growing pressure in the national education competition. “When the selection space is infiltrated by systematically prepared manipulative strategies, the issue is no longer just an exam violation, but concerns the foundation of educational ethics,” she stated. With 871,496 participants competing for around 260,000 seats in state universities, she stressed the importance of upholding meritocracy principles in the selection process. She encouraged the government and implementing committee to adapt monitoring systems and technology, given the evolving cheating methods. “Every form of cheating damages trust in the ability- and effort-based fair selection mechanism. Every loophole must be material for systematic correction in the design of future selections,” she said. The state, Puan added, must ensure integrity is maintained through adaptive and mitigation-based system updates. Because the success of the selection system is not only measured by the number of detected violations, but also by the state’s ability to narrow the space for cheating. This phenomenon is also seen as a reflection of social pressures on educational outcomes. Therefore, she reminded that handling cheating must be viewed comprehensively, not only from the technical oversight aspect. “This issue is also related to how the education system shapes values of honesty, effort, and the meaning of competition. Academic honesty cannot be formed only in the exam room, but must be part of the education process from the beginning,” the DPR Speaker concluded.