Government insists exam must stay

Erwida Maulia , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 11/26/2009 9:36 AM | Headlines

National Education Minister Muhammad Nuh says the government will seek for a case review
against a ruling by the Supreme Court, which requires that the government revoke the
controversial national final exam.

The Supreme Court delivered its verdict on Sept. 14, 2009, in favor of a civilian lawsuit, but the
verdict was only made public on Tuesday.

Nuh said the government would appeal the verdict.

“We have to respect the decision, but also want others to respect our right to seek legal efforts to
defend our cause,” Nuh was quoted as saying by kompas.com.

Head of the National Education Standard Agency (BNSP), Mungin Eddy Wibowo, said in
Semarang that the government would keep organizing the final exam in 2010 despite the court’s
ruling, Antara reported.

“There has been prevalent fraud in the implementation of the national exam, but we conduct
evaluations and improvements every year.”

Echoing the views of advocates of the national exams, Mungin said the results of the exams, as
long as they were organized “objectively, transparently and accountably”, are still needed to
measure the quality of education and to determine students’ eligibility to graduate and continue
their studies at university.

Those against the national exam cite the disparities educations across the country, arguing instead
for local level exams.

The lawsuit against the national exam was filed last year by the Advocacy Team for National
Exam Victims and the Education Forum.

The Central Jakarta District Court said in its verdict issued on May 21, 2007, that the government
had failed to protect the rights of citizens who were deprived of a chance to pursue education at a
higher level because they did not pass the government-sanctioned national final exam.

The government’s appeal at the Jakarta High Court was rejected. The provincial court upheld the
lower court’s decision on Dec. 6, 2007.

Friday, November 27, 2009 7:39 PM

Larger education spending
new s_block_form 54f8c0d431c6075b99570eb8846b846f

increases corruption: ICW

The Jakarta Post | Mon, 09/14/2009 10:19 AM | National

On Friday, the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) reported 142 graft cases, which allegedly took
place at various institutions within the national education sector between 2004 and 2008, to the
KPK for further monitoring and investigation.
“We want the [Corruption Eradication Commission] to monitor graft cases being tried at district
courts and the legal processing of many cases that has remained stagnant, and also to investigate
many cases in regions that have gained little attention from the general public,” ICW researcher
Febri Hendri said after handing over a report on the 142 cases to the commission.

The cases were worth a total of Rp 243 billion and implicated 287 individuals, mostly public
officials and school principals, Febri said. He cited numerous forms of graft in the sector such as
the imposition of illegal fees, school construction projects markups, bribes to teachers and school
principals.

Febri also urged the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and students’ parents to play
more active roles in fighting increasing corruption in the education sector, in line with the recent
increases to education spending.

Education is a large and important sector that the general public should monitor, he said, adding
that the education sector had become a fertile ground for corruption since it was allocated a larger
budget by the state government.

“Power abuses have been rampant not only at the National Education Ministry but also in
provincial and regency/municipal administrations under regional autonomy,” Febri said.

Numerous power abuses and graft cases had remained unexposed because law enforcers and
relevant stake holders had not paid enough attention to the sector, Febri said.

Separately Lody Paat, the coordinator of the Education Coalition, said the KPK could help reduce
corruption by putting corruptors behind bars.

However, only transparent processes in designing budgets and keeping accounts open to
inspections by students’ parents could really prevent power abuses and red tape in the sector, Lody
said.

“I believe parents, teachers, principals, and other stakeholders must make budget plans together
for schools and supervise implementation. They should be able to take part in educational budget
planning from national to local levels,” he said.

The coalition had carried out several pilot projects in Garut and Tangerang to teach parents how to
make and scrutinize schools’ budgets and accounts, Lody said.

Since 2003, the National Education Ministry has proclaimed school-based management that
theoretically allows anyone to acquire schools’ budget reports, Febri said. “But, if you try to get
these reports, many schools will not hand over this information,” he said.

Under school-based management, school committees, which include students’ parents and school
staff, should plan for and scrutinize schools’ budget spending.

However, in most cases committees had not managed their education budgets effectively since
most parents did not know how to scrutinize schools’ budget reports, said Jumono from the
Students’ Parents Alliance for Education. (mrs)
Friday, November 27, 2009 7:38 PM

Ministry’s program to get schools online meets with criticism

Erwida Maulia , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 11/12/2009 9:21 AM | National

The House of Representatives’ Commission X, which oversees education, criticized Wednesday

the National Education Ministry’s program to provide schools with Internet access.
The program, part of the ministry’s 100-day plan, was laid out before legislators at a working
meeting at the House.
Legislators said providing schools with Internet access was not feasible.
Angelina Sondakh, from the Democratic Party, said many students in Central Java had complained
about the program because although their schools had been equipped with computers, the
unreliable electricity supply and low bandwidth in their areas had made connecting to the Internet
a rarity.
“I agree with connecting schools nationwide to the Internet, and God willing it can be done within
the 100 days,” she said.
“But how about the program’s continuation? If we apply this program in the first 100 days of the
new minister’s [tenure], we won’t be able to afford to maintain it in 2010.
“It’ll be a waste,” Angelina went on.
“The computers we bought from the 2007, 2008 and 2009 budgets will be neglected because they
can’t be used to connect to the Internet. So you’ve got to ensure there is good bandwidth
connection right down to the village level.”
Fellow Democratic Party legislator Jefirstson R. Riwu Kore also doubted the so-called e-school
program would be a success, with many teachers unable to operate a computer.
“How will they teach their students to use the Internet when they can’t even use a computer?”
he asked.
“Not to mention the problems with poor electricity supply.”
National Education Minister Muhammad Nuh said in his presentation before members of the
commission, which also oversees sports, culture and tourism, that during his first 100 days
heading up the ministry, he would connect 17,500 more schools across the country to the Internet.
He said this was part of former education minister Bambang Sudibyo’s National Education
Network (Jardiknas) program, which has already granted Internet access to 18,000 schools, or 8
percent of the country’s 216,700 schools, since its launch in 2006.
“I’m sure that, despite these concerns, we can use the Internet in our education system with
increasing computer penetration and the growth of electronic equipment distribution,” said Nuh,
who previously served as information and communications minister.
“There’s definitely a problem with the electricity supply, but we shouldn’t let that hamper the
development of the Internet [for use in education].”
The ministry’s other 100-day programs include improving educators’ capacities, providing
university scholarships for underprivileged and outstanding students, and issuing a special policy
to assign teachers to remote and border regions.
Also on the list of 100-day programs are developing national culture and character, education
methodology, and entrepreneurship education at schools, as well as setting out the ministry’s five-
year strategic plans.
Commission X deputy chairman Heri Akhmadi, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
(PDI-P), criticized the programs, saying three of them were mere continuations of programs rolled
out by the previous minister, while the results of five others would only be on paper and not
tangible.

The ministry has granted Internet access to 18,000 schools since the program was launched in
2006.
Mendiknas: Tak Ada Kata yang Melarang Pemerintah Gelar UN

Priyombodo/KOMPAS

Mohammad Nuh, Menteri Pendidikan Nasional

Artikel Terkait:

 Mendiknas: Kami akan Patuh....

 Soal UN, Pemerintah Diharapkan Menghormati Proses Hukum
 Sebaiknya, MA Secepatnya Serahkan Salinan Itu....
 Menang Lagi, Gugatan Masyarakat soal UN

Kamis, 26 November 2009 | 19:01 WIB

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Mendiknas Mohammad Nuh mengatakan akan patuh terhadap

keputusan lembaga negara dan siap menjalankannya.

Demikian hal tersebut juga diupayakan jika memang ada jalur hukum lain setelah kasasi ditolak.
Mendiknas mengatakan, menurut para ahli hukum, masih ada upaya lain dalam bentuk PK
(peninjauan kembali).

Persoalannya, jelas Nuh, sampai saat ini Depdiknas belum menerima putusan kasasi tersebut.
Memang, lanjut Mendiknas, bunyi putusan tersebut ada di website MK yang menjelaskan kasasi
pemerintah berkaitan dengan putusan Pengadilan Negeri Jakarta Pusat atas penyelenggaraan UN.
Nuh menjelaskan, ia mencoba memahami putusan kasasi yang dikeluarkan MA sehubungan
dengan keputusan pengadilan tinggi pada 3 Mei 2007 lalu itu.

Ada enam poin, lanjut Nuh, dan tiga di antaranya yang mungkin dimaknai dengan; pemerintah
tidak boleh melaksanakan UN. “Kalau melihat keputusan itu, tidak ada satu kata pun yang
menyatakan tentang dilarangnya pemerintah melakukan UN,” kata Mendiknas di Jakarta, Kamis
(26/11).

Yang ada, tambah Mendiknas, sambil membagikan salinan keputusan pengadilan tinggi kepada
para wartawan, dalam bentuk memerintahkan kepada para tergugat (baca:pemerintah) untuk
meningkatkan kualitas guru, kelengkapan sarana dan prasarana sekolah, akses informasi yang
lengkap di seluruh daerah di Indonesia, sebelum mengeluarkan kebijakan Pelaksanaan Ujian
Nasional lebih lanjut; memerintahkan kepada para tergugat untuk mengambil langkah-langkah
konkrit untuk mengatasi gangguan psikologi dan mental peserta didik dalam usia anak akibat
penyelenggaraan UN; memerintahkan kepada para tergugat untuk meninjau kembali Sistem
Pendidikan Nasional.

Terkait dengan perintah tersebut, Nuh menjelaskan, Depdiknas telah melakukan perbaikan-
perbaikan dalam hal meningkatkan kualitas guru, kelengkapan sarana dan prasarana sekolah, akses
informasi yang lengkap di seluruh daerah di Indonesia.

“Pada program seratus hari Depdiknas jelas terlihat upaya-upaya itu sedang dilakukan, misalnya
menyambungkan internet ke 17.500 sekolah,” katanya.