NTB Parliament Summons Education Chief After Dozens of 'Accepted' Students Expelled from System

Commission V of the West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) has summoned the Head of the NTB Education, Youth, and Sports Agency (Dikpora) following complaints from dozens of students regarding the 2026 New Student Admission Selection (SPMB) system for senior high schools in Mataram. The summons was triggered by approximately 50 confused parents, whose children were initially declared successful in the online system but were suddenly removed and disappeared from the list when they attempted to re-register at a high school in Mataram. Commission V Chairman Lalu Sudiartawan stressed that the alleged manipulation in the new student admissions process must be clarified by the agency head to prevent it from becoming a wild issue circulating in the community. ‘We invited the agency head based on several external issues, especially regarding a parents’ association which stated that their children were listed as having passed and been accepted, but when they went to re-register, they had vanished,’ Sudiartawan said on Wednesday (1/7/2026). The Gerindra Party politician revealed that the NTB Education Agency argued the status change from ‘passed’ to ‘failed’ occurred because the system operates dynamically. However, the council refused to accept this explanation and declined to draw unilateral conclusions. ‘We will confront both parties soon, between the parents and the agency. So there will be no recommendation from Commission V until we also hear from the parents,’ Sudiartawan asserted. Commission V issued a stern ultimatum to the NTB Education Agency, insisting that the chaotic system must not sacrifice the educational rights of children in Mataram. Options such as opening new study groups or distributing students to under-subscribed schools are now being explored. ‘The main point is that no child should be left without schooling. That is our emphasis to the agency head,’ he stated. NTB Education Agency Head Syamsul Hadi clarified the controversy regarding the ‘passed’ status that had been screenshotted by parents. According to him, the ranking process was not yet final at that time and the data was still fluctuating. ‘There are students who did not pass because, you see, when they took a screenshot showing they were in the green zone, the data was actually still moving and fluctuating,’ Syamsul explained. Syamsul likened the SPMB system to a stock exchange that changes every hour. As soon as a candidate with a higher priority score or zoning enters, students in lower positions are automatically displaced. ‘Yes, they were in the green, but in the following hour, because the data was still moving, they eventually got pushed down,’ he concluded.