National exams highlight RI's education gap

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

School officials in several regions doubt their students will be able to pass the national exams that were held over the last two weeks because of disparities in education standards in the country, the National Education Standardization Body (BSNP) reported.

"We have received many complaints from provinces outside Java where schools doubt whether their students can pass the national exam," BSNP chairman Bambang Suhendro told The Jakarta Post on Friday, adding that the body was still compiling data to assess the significance of the complaints.

Educational experts have long been concerned by the gaps in the quality of schools nationwide, and have criticized the Ministry of National Education's decision to measure students' academic ability through centralized national examinations.

Hutomo Dananjaya of Paramadina University's Center for Education Reform said the quality of schools was very diverse, varying from excellent to poor. "That is exactly why a national exam is not suitable."

Downplaying the reports, Bambang said the country needed a national exam that could determine where gaps occurred and allocate resources accordingly.

However, teachers and academics doubt the national final examination, as conceptualized by the government, will be able to narrow the gaps among schools across the country, unless efforts are made to upgrade the quality of both the schools' infrastructure and their teachers.

BSNP, Bambang said, had to introduce a long-term project on the standardization of educational concepts, management and human resources. "That will take some time because we need to consult with experts," he said, promising to involve the public in the process.

Regarding the national exam itself, the evaluation body does not see the need for a new approach. "If the mechanisms for organizing the national exams are already good, why change them," Bambang said.

There were some technical problems reported in the just concluded examination process. Local media reported that several provinces, such as Aceh, did not receive the promised operational funds for the exams.

Other problems included the leakage of examination materials, which necessitated some students having to retake the exam. This problem occurred with the English exam for junior high school students in Bengkulu.

BSNP is scheduled to finish processing the results of the national examinations by the end of June and will then return them to the provinces. "Schools can announce whether or not the students' passed on July 1 and July 2," BSNP member Djemari Mardapi said, adding that whether students passed did not depend solely on the results of the exam.

A second round of national examinations is set for Oct. 3 through Oct. 5 for junior high school students, and Oct. 10 through Oct. 12 for high school students. This second round of exams is for students who were unable to take this month's exams and for those who failed the tests.(003)