Job Discussion Forums

[pauleslteacher1]

I would like to know your opinion, especially national plus and international school teachers about the yearly "national exams" for SMA and SMP students...

I personally think it's a waste of time in Indonesia because of the real diversity of students that have to take the exams. I think that they should "toss them out" and have individual schools determine if their students pass or fail by some sort of national standard scale. Of course that might lead to some potential corruption but overall I think it would be alot better.

For SMA students there could be special university exams for those who wanted to go on...And not just "failure" for the ones who didn't pass at that given test period, but did sufficiently well during their high school time...

More importantly... Students could use grade 12 to focus on their future by increasing their knowledge rather than just focusing on passing their national exams...!!

Paul

[sherlock]

I haven't had much experience with ujian nasional but have spoken to many teachers who have. Most are of the same opinion that it is probably better the devil you know. Most asian country teach to exams so there is nothing culturally wrong with them and I have yet to hear a viable alternative.

I think you have got your head in the sand if you think teachers are going to accurately determine pass/fail. There is no doubt that corruption will ensue and ultimately it will be the rich who prosper. Given the lack of alternatives, this is the best way at the moment.

P.S - I don't know of any international schools that use Indonesian curriculum. In fact proper international schools have a limit on the amount of Indonesian students they can have, 20% of their student population - so I doubt they would have much need for it.

[pauleslteacher1]

Yes Sherlock your right... most international students don't have to take the national exams...

But... how can a student from a small village pass the high government standards compared with a student that has money, goes to a good school and can get extra help... NOT FAIR AT ALL

[sherlock]

I don't think any education system in the world is fair. The rich always get an advantage because they get to go to better schools and can pay for more help/tutoring. The same happens in the UK, US and Australia where people from rural areas are disadvantaged when placed against rich city schools in national grading or testing (eg, SAT's etc).

I think you will be compounding the problem by making the teacher assess pass/fail, because it is more open to corruption and therefore will be more of a disadvantage to the poorer/rural students.

[malu]

The end of school assessment depends on practical tests (Ujian Praktek), internal school exams for most subjects (Ujian Akhir Sekolah), and the externally moderated UAN for English, Bahasa Indo and 2 other subjects depending on the stream (science, humanities, vocational).

The UAN is a cheap and nasty multi-choice exam that is marked by machine (and seemingly written by idiots) but it is the only external moderation that high schools receive. In an ideal world I'd like to see it replaced by more modern exams moderated by an independent board but it would be a disaster to lose it right now.

All evidence that I have ever seen from a cross-section of high schools is that internally moderated stuff (UAS and Praktek) is up for sale. The only thing you can't buy is the UAN grade.

Having said that, if you are REALLY rich you can buy a high school graduation certificate directly from your friendly local education ministry office, which is why Indonesian state exams are not really recognised elsewhere.

[malu]

The end of school assessment depends on practical tests (Ujian Praktek), internal school exams for most subjects (Ujian Akhir Sekolah), and the externally moderated UAN for English, Bahasa Indo and 2 other subjects depending on the stream (science, humanities, vocational).

The UAN is a cheap and nasty multi-choice exam that is marked by machine (and seemingly written by idiots) but it is the only external moderation that high schools receive. In an ideal world I'd like to see it replaced by more modern exams moderated by an independent board but it would be a disaster to lose it right now.

All evidence that I have ever seen from a cross-section of high schools is that internally moderated stuff (UAS and Praktek) is up for sale. The only thing you can't buy is the UAN grade.

Having said that, if you are REALLY rich you can buy a high school graduation certificate directly from your friendly local education ministry office, which is why Indonesian state exams are not really recognised elsewhere.