My Aversions about the National Examination

By : Astri Cullen & Moreno Soeprapto

Huff…! Finally, my sister has passed her national and final exam. This year, perhaps, is one of the hardest years for her. I have been watching her for several months when she started preparing to face the national examination, and she looked so exhausted. It reminds me for several years when I was in my last grade in senior high school.

It was 2001 when I was in the 3rd grade of senior high school. I was in Science major at the time. Like other students in the same grade, I was nervous to face the national examination. Yet, it is definitely different now. There was no standardization for passing the national examination in my era. Thus, I was not too worried. I thought, with a good or bad score, I would pass the exam and graduate from my school.

However, my sister’s situation now is different from my situation. She must think and examine how to get the standard score otherwise she will fail.

Talking about the standard score as the requirement of passing the national examination, is it the best way to evaluate the student’s ability? And my answer is NO. It is not fair for students to judge whether they have enough ability or not to graduate from one phase to a higher phase by organizing the national examination. How come the government asks the standardization of passing the national exam whether there are so many schools that can not follow the standard curriculum? For instance, is it fair for the students in outlying place to get the same test with the students in urban area? As we know, students in outlying place do not have many good teachers and they also do not have many types of equipment to support their learning process. Thus, how come they are asked to have the same ability with the students that have high quality teachers and fulfill with sophisticated equipment which can support them in learning process.

Another reason why I disagree with the national examination as the tradition to evaluate the students’ ability is the conditions of the students when they face the exam. We never know whether the students in a good or bad condition. What if when the national exam is held, the student is sick? Or perhaps, he/she is in a big family problem and can not concentrate to answer test items. Can we still force this to those students? Ok, I know there are supplement tests for students who can not follow the exam on D-day. Yet, it still does not solve the main problem because there is also limited day for students who want to follow it. What if the students are still in a bad condition when the supplement test is held?

Even worse, there are so many schools that are dishonest when the tests are being held. They are worried that their students will fail so they help their student by helping them to answer the test or perhaps correct their answer sheet. Since they do not want to have the risk that it will demolish the school’s image, they will do anything to make all of their students pass the examination. Is it allowed? To avoid the bad reputation, they will teach the students about dishonesty. How come we will have a good generation whether the young generations have learned about fraudulent since they were kid?

Since the government has the standard scores of graduation in senior high school, almost all students do not agree with the government decision. They said it will kill them because the students must get the standard scores that are already given by the government. If they are not able to get the standard scores, they will fail. Student have to join the test even though they are sick or they have something to do. It means they will have it again next year. They think the government do not appreciate the three years when they were studying at school. Other bad effects of having UAN there are many unfair ways that we often found since the students have test, liked some students got the questions before the test was started or the teachers help the students answer the questions. Based on my experience when I was in senior high school I saw some friends who are often absent in the class and also rubbed to get good scores in test and unfortunately we also often found smart students in the class fail the test, it does not mean we under estimate the student’s skills, it’s real.

In my opinion, the government needs to change the ways or rules of UAN like the rules of the collage ways by using (IPK). By having these rules, it will help the students and they also can improve their skill every semester, but even though like that the government should give the standard scores for the last examination, and students have to get the standards. It will help them, because they have more than one chance to have good scores. And for the students who are not able to get the standard will have the second chance but not next year and the government should accommodate it.

Based on those reasons, I think the government should rearrange the system of the national examination. The government should pay attention about the students’ ability in each area. They must provide the auxiliary teacher in out lying place and some supports equipment in teaching-learning process. The government also must inspect the national exam standardization. Yet, not to forget to welfare the teachers’ life. Since, they will not teach maximally whether they always think about how to fulfill their families’ needs.