Overhail of Aceh schools urged after exam results

Syahruddin Hamzah, Antara News Agency/Banda Aceh

The education system in tsunami-hit Aceh has come under criticism following last week's announcement that 49 percent of junior and senior high school students in the province failed the national examinations.

Aceh education office head Teuku Alamsyah said at least six factors were responsible for the poor outcome:

The increase of the grade needed for a pass from 4.01 to 4.26, the prolonged conflict in the province, the tsunami catastrophe, the weak education monitoring system, the poor quality of teachers and ill-suited teacher placement.

"In the future, good quality teachers should not be transferred into administrative posts," Alamsyah said.

Some 49 percent of the 118,877 students in the province or 51,355 students failed the exams.

Many Acehnese students have been struggling to catch up with their studies since the Dec. 26 tsunami. They are also grappling with horrific memories and the loss of loved ones.

In spite of this, the high national exam failure rate has drawn criticism from many quarters, particularly as the government has channeled huge funds into the education sector in the province. Last year, Rp 700 billion (US$73 million) was designated for Aceh's education sector and this year the figure was Rp 500 billion.

A further Rp 2.7 trillion has been budgeted for supporting infrastructure such as teachers' training said Surahman and Fitriadi, executives of the Indonesian Muslim Student Association's (PII) Aceh chapter. The PII said that given the extent of the funds some improvements in the province's education system had been expected.

"It seems the money has not been properly used to improve education in the province," said the PII in a media statement.

The statement was distributed to the public during a mass protest following the June 30 announcement of national exam results. In the protest on Saturday, the students called for education reforms.

Education expert at Syiah Kuala University Darni M. Daud said revolutionary measures were needed to improve the province's education system..

He said teachers who held second jobs in addition to their regular jobs were a problem, though their low salaries were to blame.

Through raising teachers' salaries their professionalism would improve, he said, but students also needed to work harder.

Darni criticized education institutions that were quick to pass students but ignored the quality of their educations.

"Money is not the only factor. Parents and teachers can together improve education standards in the province," said Darni.