East Java Education Office Strengthens Student Numeracy Following Uneven Junior High School Academic Results
Surabaya (ANTARA) - The East Java Education Office (Dindik) is strengthening student numeracy skills after results from the Junior High School (SMP) Academic Ability Test (TKA) showed that achievements across different regions are uneven, affecting the provincial average.
“When accumulated, it does appear to have declined. However, personally, our children are extraordinary. Some have achieved scores of 100, 95, and 99,” said the Head of the East Java Education Office, Aries Agung Paewai, in Surabaya on Thursday.
Based on data from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen), the average Indonesian language score for SMP TKA participants in East Java reached 63.47, while mathematics stood at 41.45.
A total of 587,167 students participated in the SMP TKA across East Java. From these results, the ‘exceptional’ category for Indonesian language reached 0.07 per cent, while the ‘exceptional’ category for mathematics was 0.03 per cent.
Furthermore, the category of students with ‘adequate’ achievement in Indonesian language reached 50.91 per cent, whereas the ‘adequate’ category for mathematics stood at 68.82 per cent.
Aries stated that the seemingly low average scores are influenced by the very large number of TKA participants in East Java, meaning the final results represent the accumulated achievement of all regions.
“Because there are several regions where scores have indeed declined, the average appears low. But in reality, our children are very competitive,” he said.
He explained that TKA scores have now been integrated into the New Student Admission Selection (SPMB) system and will be accumulated according to the admission pathway chosen by the student.
According to him, the strengthening of literacy and numeracy will continue in collaboration with provincial and regency/city governments to improve the equality of academic achievement across all areas. This initiative is being undertaken considering that the management of Junior High Schools (SMP) falls under the authority of regency/city governments, whereas Senior High Schools (SMA) and Vocational High Schools (SMK) are under the authority of the East Java Provincial Government.