Ministry sets new academic calendar

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Education and Culture has established a new academic calendar and also has declared that students in Maluku's ravaged capital of Ambon will not have to sit for exams, Minister Juwono Sudarsono said on Tuesday.

"The changes (in the calendar) are final... we have also made special arrangements for Ambon, freeing all students from exams. It's impossible to have exams there," he said.

All students who were to take exams in Ambon will be registered and given a special pass certificate.

"But in other areas also affected by unrest, such as Aceh, Pontianak and East Timor... exams will proceed," he added.

Juwono said entrance exams for state universities would be held well after the June 7 general election. The exams, originally scheduled for June 17 and June 18, have been rescheduled for June 29 and June 30.

"The rescheduling also involves national exams (at the elementary and junior high school levels), quarterly tests and school holidays... basically because of the current national condition," Juwono told The Jakarta Post after addressing a seminar on civil society.

Political turmoil and the economic crisis has had a significant impact on education, he said.

"Many schools have been closed down... some have even been burned to the ground in several areas hit by riots."

"In Jakarta... schools have been forced to cram teaching materials onto students because students frequently have been sent home early due to widespread demonstrations," Juwono noted.

Juwono also said that in order to coordinate school holidays with the scheduled election campaign period of May 15 to June 4, the third quarter holiday would be from May 17 to June 12.

A ministry official confirmed the new academic calendar as reported by Kompas daily:

* Second quarter holiday: March 1 to March 8

* High school state exams: May 3 to May 6

* Elementary and junior high school exams: May 10 to May 12

* Third quarter holiday: May 17 to June 12

* School days and quarter exams: June 14 to July 9

* Final report: July 10

* Additional third quarter holiday for new enrollments: July 12 to July 17

* Start of the 1999/2000 academic year: July 19

* Registration for state university entrance exams: June 15 to June 27

* State university entrance exams: June 29 to June 30.

"Unless there are extraordinary conditions, we will stick to this calendar," Juwono added. (edt)