Learning center, copy shop implicated in exam leak

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)