Learning center, copy shop implicated in exam leak

JAKARTA (JP): The city office of Ministry of National Education has discovered the alleged roles of a learning institution (locally known as Bimbingan Pelajar) and a photocopy shop in the recent leaks of nationwide final examinations (Ebtanas) for senior high schools, a city official said on Sunday.

Head of the secondary and general education division of the national education office, Abdulrohim, identified the two institutions as the Manila Copy Center in Pejaten and Sonny Sugema College in Pasar Minggu, both in South Jakarta.

"The case is now being handled by the police. We don't have the authority to take any action other than reporting them to the police," he said.

The South Jakarta Police chief, Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang, however, said he had yet to summon anyone in connection with the case.

"We're still investigating the case. We have just gathered the names of the schools, whose students are to take the new examinations (on Monday). We will send some of our men to the schools for security purposes," he said.

The alleged roles of the two privately owned institutions were traced based on the findings of an employee of his that examination papers were copied at the Manila Copy Center on May 22, the first day of the exam, Abdulrohim said.

According to him, the exam papers duplicated on that day concerned materials included in the examinations the following day.

Abdulrohim, however, did not disclose who made the copies and from which party he or she got the materials.

"The suspected involvement of the college was disclosed by students who possessed the leaked materials," he said.

His office, he added, had also reported at least 18 students possessing the leaked materials to the police. Abdulrohim gave no names of the students' schools. Earlier reports stated that the leaked exam materials were found on students at 10 schools in the greater Jakarta area.

"It's the police that are questioning the students further. We are not involved at all," Abdulrohim said.

The latest data at the national education office show that some students at 55 schools in the city will take fresh examinations from Monday until Thursday this week, together with students who failed to show up during the initial days of examination.

Abdulrohim said that his office also found out that some of the leaked test papers seized from the students were master copies.

He, therefore, urged top officials at the education ministry to also conduct a separate investigation in a bid to discover the real suspects as he believes the leakage also involves high-level officials.

"It's not the Jakarta education office which should always be suspected," he said, refusing to elaborate further.

The number of students who will join the new tests totals about 5 percent of the entire 70,000 Ebtanas participants in Jakarta.

In anticipation that students will be reluctant to take the trial tests, he said it was up to the schools whether they allowed them to graduate.

On Saturday, some 150 junior and senior high school students staged a protest at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta, demanding a probe into the leaks found during the Ebtanas and an improvement in national education.

The students, grouped under the Student Action Front for People's Care (KAPPUR), started their rally at the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) building on Jl. Diponegoro and then headed to the traffic circle.

Members of the front claimed to have been advocated by the National Democratic Student League (LMND) and the Student Alliance for Poor People (Amarest).

A student from Yadika High School, Heni, read a petition demanding cheap education for poor students and a 300 percent hike in teachers' salaries.

The students also demanded that the government improve the educational curriculum; which includes the removal of Indonesian history classes, a continuation of the nine-year compulsory education and the freedom to join any student organizations, aside from the existing Inter-School Student Organization (OSIS).

The front members plan to meet soon with Minister for National Education Yahya Muhaimin to air their demands. (ind/ylt/06)