Students face high standards, tough finals

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Students are facing tougher final examination this academic year as the Jakarta Elementary Education and Jakarta Middle and High School Education Agencies will impose higher pass grades in the exams in an effort to increase the quality of education in the capital.

"The pass mark will be higher than the required score last year," said the Jakarta Middle and High School Education Agency head Margani Mustar after a hearing with City Council Commission E on social welfare and education.

The new ruling will require a student to achieve a minimum score of 4.01, on a scale between 0 and 10, in every subject. Last year's minimum score was 3.0.

"A student cannot pass the test if he gets less than the required minimum score in any of the tested subjects," Margani said.

Last year, a student was required to achieve a total average score of 6.0 in the final examination in order to pass and to be able to continue studies at a higher level. The government also started to decide on the material for the English, Indonesian and Mathematics exams last year. Other subjects' test materials were made by each school.

Previously, the material for the final examination was decided and distributed by the government.

The higher required marks will be imposed due to mounting criticism that subjective factors are often brought into consideration when grading students, including the students' behavior at school vis-a-vis their academic performance.

The new standard is pursuant to the Ministerial Decree No. 017/U/2003, issued early last year, on the national final examinations for junior and senior high school students.

Margani said students would not be charged for the tests.

"Expenses for final examinations will come from the state budget and city budget. The allocation from the city budget is ready for disbursement while the fund from the state budget is still in process (of disbursement)," he said.

Both education agencies will need Rp 24.1 billion (US$2.8 million) -- Rp 13.2 billion from the city budget and Rp 10.9 billion from the state budget -- to finance the exams.

More than 130,000 elementary school students will join the final examination from June 7 to June 11. The final exam for 130,751 junior high school students will be from May 24 to May 29. More than 67,000 senior high school and 60,528 vocational school students will join the final exam from May 10 to May 15.

The elementary education agency will spend Rp 45,000 per student while the middle and high school education agency will allocate Rp 65,000 per junior high school student, Rp 79,000 for each senior high school student and Rp 133,000 per vocational school student.