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National Exam Not Cancelled, Indonesian Court Says
Anita Rachman | December 02, 2009

Students taking the national exam earlier this year. (JG Photo) Students taking the national exam earlier this year. (JG Photo)
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The Supreme Court’s ruling ordering the government to upgrade educational facilities nationwide contains no specific demand for national exams to be eliminated, the court’s spokesman said on Tuesday.

“The plaintiffs never specifically asked for the national exams to be scrapped,” said Andri Tristianto, referring to a lawsuit filed in 2007 by a group of students and their parents. “They asked for the government to improve the quality of teachers and education throughout the country.”

The Supreme Court’s statement comes nearly a week after its Sept. 14 ruling was made public, triggering widespread debate and raising questions on whether the ruling meant the national exams would not be conducted in 2010.

“Whether or not the government has improved the quality of teaching is measured by the standards set by the Ministry of Education. The Supreme Court ruling does not abolish the exams,” Andri said on Tuesday.

Muhammad Isnur, a lawyer at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute who represented the children and parents in the lawsuit, stated on Tuesday that they were disappointed with the court spokesman for making such a statement because only the judge presiding over the case should do so.

“The statement is misleading and confusing. The victims clearly objected to the national exams, which are legally considered a passing requirement. We are not against the national exams. We just object to their use as the requirement which determines whether or not a student graduates from school.”

He emphasized that the Supreme Court had simply upheld the verdict of the district court, which according to Isnur, stated that the government must first improve the quality of teachers and schools before holding more exams. Isnur said that the group demanded that the Supreme Court spokesman correct his statement and urged the government to follow up on the contents of the verdict.

In the lawsuit, the group accused the state of denying the students a right to education because they could not advance to college after failing the national exams. The group also asked the government to upgrade teaching standards and school facilities before issuing any further policies relating to the national test.

According to its lawyers, the group interpreted this as meaning that no more national exams should be conducted while the teaching and schooling facilities were substandard in many parts of the nation.