Students pessimistic, worried about tough UAN
The Jakarta Post, Semarang/Medan/Ambon/Kupang
It was only the first day of the final examinations, but students across the country were already worried about failing to get a pass grade of 4.01 in all subjects following a particularly tough English paper.
The final exams for high school students will run for a week, starting Monday. The exams in math, Bahasa Indonesia and English will be based on the national standards set by the Ministry of National Education, while the physics, biology, sociology and economics examinations have been prepared by each school.
Bulan, one of 417 students from state senior high school SMA 1 in Semarang who are sitting in the final tests, said she had taken a private English course, but she admitted she was confused by the listening part of the exam.
"There were lots of words, and they sounded the same. Only those who have really mastered the language could differentiate between them and give the correct answers," she said.
At state high school SMA 3, also in Semarang, 577 students taking the exams expressed their fears about whether would pass and thus qualify to go on to higher education.
The anxiety was also felt by 163,721 students of both state and private high schools who took the exams throughout South Sumatra.
Nurhayati, a student of SMU Raksana Medan in Medan, said the English exam was very difficult.
"I'm not sure if I will get a pass. I will be lucky to get a 3.0," she said dejectedly.
Nurhayati's fellow student Fahmi Hidayat also expressed pessimism, saying the English test had been so difficult that he doubted he would get anywhere near a pass.
In response to the students' complaints over the difficult English paper, South Sumatra Education Agency director Sakhyan Asmara said that those who failed to get a pass would be given a second chance.
Elsewhere, in Ambon the first day of the final exams went off smoothly. Despite the recent fighting there, 151 students -- 66 Muslims and 85 Christians -- were seen sitting their exams together.
In Kendari, a total of 15,118 students sat the exams, while 1,557 did so in Biak, 54,000 in Padang, 39,547 in Aceh, and 34,213 in Bali.
In Kupang, however, the first day of the final exams was marked by a teachers strike in five subdistricts: Wulanggitang, East Adonara, Ileboleng, Witihama and Kelubagolit. The teachers later backed down and the final exams proceeded smoothly.
The results of the UAN exams will be announced on June 14, 2004. Those who fail will be given the chance to retake the exams between July 8 and July 10, 2004.