New decree increases number of students failing final exam

New decree increases number of students failing final exam

The Jakarta Post, Bandung/Medan

The number of students who failed to pass the national final exam
in the provinces of West Java and North Sumatra have increased
after the Ministry of National Education issued a decree on the
final examination.

In West Java, a total of 12,341 high school students, or 5
percent of about 215,000 students, failed to pass the final
examination.

Head of the provincial education office Iim Wasliman said that
the result was worse than last year, which saw only 2 percent of
students failing.

"In the province itself, the worst result was found in
Purwakarta regency, where 12 percent of students failed. The best
result is in Sumedang regency, with only 1.5 percent who failed,"
he said on Monday in Bandung.

"The poor results somehow show the true quality of education
in the province."

Iim said that West Java had a relatively low rating compared
to other provinces across the nation.

"In fact, we had to lower the passing grade from an ideal of
six to only three," he said.

In Medan, 11,150 of 159,170 students, or 7 percent, failed
their final examinations. Last year, the ministry reported North
Sumatra province had a success rate of 93.58 percent.

The North Sumatra provincial education office had earlier
predicted that between 20 and 25 percent students would fail in
the examination.

"The figure (of 7 percent) is much lower than what we
expected," said head of the office O.K. Nazaruddin Hisyam.

The highest number of students who failed was recorded in
Central Tapanuli regency with 12.77 percent, while the lowest was
in Pematang Siantar regency.

The ministry issued a new decree in February that the results
of the final examination would be divided into two categories,
pass (lulus) and finish (tamat).

The decree stated that students who failed their final exams
would be declared only as having finished their studies. They
would be allowed to apply for jobs, but not to continue their
study. Only those who pass are allowed both to continue their
education or to apply for employment.

Many have been worried that more and more students would not
be able to pursue their studies to the tertiary level.

However, those who failed may retake the final exam early next
month. The registration is scheduled from June 10 to June 14.