Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education: Implementation of Academic Ability Test in Bandung City Follows Procedures
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Minister of Basic and Secondary Education (Wamendikdasmen) Atip Latipulhayat assured that the implementation of the Academic Ability Test (TKA) for junior secondary level in Bandung City, West Java Province, ran in accordance with the established procedures and mechanisms.
“Alhamdulillah, earlier I observed and also entered the testing rooms; it was all in order and proceeded well, with no violations. Hopefully, the following days will be the same,” said Atip in a written statement in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Atip stated that the primary objective of the TKA is to identify and evaluate the individual abilities of students according to their academic capabilities.
Therefore, he hopes that all parties can continue to collaborate effectively so that the implementation of TKA improves in the future.
“The TKA is not for determining graduation, but to assess each individual’s academic ability, so there’s no need to worry. That’s why it’s not called an exam, but a test; if it were an exam, we’ve already had too many exams in life, so it’s just called a test,” he said.
Regarding the readiness for the TKA implementation at the junior secondary level in Bandung City, the Head of the Bandung City Education Office, Asep Saeful Gufron, explained that they had anticipated by conducting checks at every school to support the smooth running of the TKA.
This is because not every school can serve as a TKA venue; some schools are in internet blank spot zones.
An optimistic attitude was also shown by one of the TKA participants named Zaskia, a 9D student who had to take the test using a wheelchair because she had just undergone bone surgery.
She mentioned that her preparations included practising questions and studying together.
“Of course, I studied, then looked for questions, practised them, and studied with friends, because I can’t study alone very well, so there are friends who teach me if I don’t understand; if we can’t meet, we can do it via video call,” said Zaskia.