Rather Than a Diploma, Gibran Allegedly Provided Attendance Records and Transcripts
Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –
The Constitutional Court (MK) is delving into the ‘Certificate of Attendance’, attendance percentages, and academic transcripts that were reportedly submitted by Gibran Rakabuming Raka when registering as a candidate for the 2024-2029 Vice Presidency.
Taufiq Damarjati, a member of the assessment and verification team for Gibran’s educational documents at the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, stated that his office only received a Certificate of Attendance from UTS Insearch (now known as UTS College) in Sydney, Australia.
“This concerns the documents from Insearch—what other forms of certificates did you receive besides what is presented here? Specifically, the one titled Certificate of Attendance. Were there any other certificates submitted to the ministry at that time?” asked Vice Chairman of the Constitutional Court, Saldi Isra, during the hearing for case number 0LT/PHPU.PRES-XXIV/2026 regarding the dispute over the 2024 Presidential and Vice Presidential Election results, on Friday (2/10).
“Thank you, Your Honour. Aside from the Certificate of Attendance, there were no other certificates, Your Honour,” explained Taufiq.
“So, the only document titled a certificate received by the ministry at that time was the Certificate of Attendance, correct?” Saldi asserted.
“That is correct, Your Honour,” replied Taufiq.
“There were no others, right?” Saldi pressed.
“There were none, Your Honour,” said Taufiq.
Meanwhile, the Education Attaché of the Indonesian Embassy in Australia, Yuli Rahmawati, attending virtually, assessed that a Certificate of Attendance represents the percentage of attendance during a period of study.
“Ms Yuli, from Canberra. For those participating in education at Insearch, do they also report to the attaché or the Indonesian Embassy after completing their studies?” Saldi asked.
“According to my records to date, there are none. However, for similar types of college-level education, we have received documents from Monash College, Your Honour,” Yuli replied.
“So, the Embassy has not received anything similar to the Insearch case, but you have for other colleges?” Saldi clarified.
“Yes, for other colleges, we have,” replied Yuli.
Saldi then questioned Yuli’s interpretation of a Certificate of Attendance, asking whether such a document could be equated to a formal diploma.
“I want to ask, as an education attaché, how do you interpret a document that explicitly states ‘Certificate of Attendance’? In an educational context, can this be equated to a graduation diploma from an educational process?” asked Salbar.
“A Certificate of Attendance is generally used for visa purposes; attendance is often queried. However, for a diploma, the documents we usually receive for school certificates include the name, duration, date, and the degree received along with educational information,” Yuli explained.
“That includes the Insearch document, correct?” interjected Saldi.
“Yes,” replied Yuli.
Yuli interpreted the Certificate of Attendance as the percentage of attendance during lectures. She noted that such certificates are often issued upon request rather than being automatically provided by a university.
“So, how do you interpret this Certificate of Attendance as an attaché? What is your interpretation?” Saldi asked.
“What I interpret is the percentage of attendance during lectures. Often, these certificates are issued upon request, not automatically by a university,” said Yuli.
Saldi then turned the question to Taufiq, asking what actions the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education took after Gibran’s application for equivalence was submitted online on 6 August 2019.
“What we did was analyse both the chronological and substantive aspects of the submitted documents. This included the junior high school diploma—or rather, the STTB (Certificate of Completion of Study) as it was called then, issued in 2002. We then reviewed the subsequent educational chronology, namely at Orchid Secondary School in Singapore from 2003 to 2004, evidenced by transcripts or report cards for Secondary 3 and Secondary 4. From there, the outcome of the Orchid Secondary School level was the GCE O-Level Certificate,” Taufiq continued.
He stated that the ministry then assessed the subsequent level of education Gibran pursued at UTS Insearch from 2005-2006 in the Diploma of Business Studies programme. Taufiq noted that the documents submitted included a Certificate of Attendance and transcripts.
“There were also enrolment certificates. From there, we assessed the modules taken during the two years of his studies,” said Taufiq.
The assessment team concluded that Gibran possesses knowledge equivalent to a Vocational High School (SMK) level, specifically regarding Accounting and Finance expertise.
Taufiq stated that this assessment was based on matching the modules Gibran took at UTS Insearch with the Indonesian curriculum structure in place in 2018.
“In this instance, he completed 6 semesters—or 6 trimesters, as one year consists of 3 trimesters. Based on the assessment of those transcripts, we declared that he possesses knowledge equivalent to a Vocational High School (SMK), particularly regarding the Accounting and Finance expertise programme,” revealed Taufiq.