Puan Urges Government to Evaluate UTBK SNBT Supervision
House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani has urged the government to evaluate the supervision system after various cheating cases were uncovered during the 2026 Computer-Based Written Examination for the National Selection Based on Tests (UTBK SNBT). She views these irregularities as a challenge to the integrity of the national education competition that requires policy intervention.
“The government and the organising committee need to adapt the supervision system and technology as cheating methods evolve. Every loophole must be systematically corrected in the design of subsequent selections,” Puan stated in a written remark on Friday, 24 April 2026.
According to Puan, the success of the selection system is not only measured by the number of detected violations but by the state’s ability to narrow the space for cheating. On that basis, Puan wants the state to ensure the integrity of the selection is maintained through adaptive and mitigation-based system updates.
The implementation of UTBK since 21 April 2026 in various regions has still been marred by suspected cheating. The committee has identified various methods, ranging from the use of proxies, document forgery, hidden communication devices, to manipulative tactics to deceive supervisors.
There are anomalies in data for 2,940 participants suspected of cheating. As in previous years, the committee has also detected the presence of proxy syndicates that now face criminal sanctions.
Puan sees this cheating not merely as individual violations but as a recurring pattern with increasingly complex techniques. This reflects the growing pressure in the education competition.
She also opines that handling cheating must be viewed comprehensively, not only from the technical supervision aspect but also how the education system shapes values of honesty, effort, and the meaning of competition. “When the selection space is infiltrated by systematically prepared manipulative strategies, the issue is no longer just an exam violation but concerns the foundation of educational ethics,” she said.
With around 260,000 seats in state universities contested by 871,496 people, Puan emphasises the importance of upholding meritocracy principles in the selection. Because, she said, every form of cheating damages trust in the fair ability- and effort-based selection mechanism.
The former Minister of Coordinating Human Development and Culture also reminded that all elements must support instilling a culture of honesty from an early age in the education ecosystem. “Academic honesty cannot be formed only in the exam room but must be part of the education process from the beginning,” she stated.