Officials do a final check ahead of the setting of computer-based national exams at state senior high school SMA Negeri 29 Jakarta, Saturday (8/4). The exams will be held from April 10 to 13.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The computer-based national exams have become an entry point for upgrading the granting of marks in education because they are more accountable and transparent. However, the national exam system must be improved, not only technically but also substantially.
The computer-based national exams (UNBK) for junior high school (SMP/MTs) and senior high school (SMA/MA/SMK) levels are held gradually from April 3 to May 17. About 7.7 million students will be taking the exams, 49 percent of which use the computer-based exams and 51 percent of which write the paper-based exams. The exams for senior high school (SMA/MA) will start on Monday (10/4).
The exams for vocational schools (SMK) were held from April 3 to 6 with about 1.13 million students participating. They ran smoothly, although there were problems, such as delays in the schedule because of power outages, server glitches and mixed-up exam materials. About 35,000 SMK students had to reschedule their exams because of those problems.
Paramadina University Institute for Education Reform adviser Mohammad Abduhzen in Jakarta on Sunday said the computer-based exams had significantly improved the technical aspects of the exams, mainly to prevent cheating and leakage of exam material.
“The issue is now not about cheating but technical glitches because it is hard to cheat on computer-based exams,” said the Indonesian Teachers Association (PGRI) research and development chairman.
It is impossible for students to cheat on the national exams as happened during the paper-based exams. During the exams each student gets different material.
The computer-based exams also give less opportunity for material to be leaked. The material is downloaded to the servers at each school on the day of the exam. Then the material is distributed to each student\'s computer through a LAN cable. The student will then work on the exam offline.
A problem happens if there is power outage or server glitch. In Yogyakarta, for example, the SMK exam had technical issues, such as server glitches on incompatible computers. There were at least 800 reports related to those issues.
In South Sulawesi, there was a case of exam materials not being accessible. Consequently, there were 954 students in different majors who could not complete the exams and had to reschedule. The problem included mixed-up exam material in some regions caused by the variety of majors at the SMK.
Scoring upgrade
With those advantages, National Education Standard Agency (BSNP) secretary Kiki Yuliati said the UNBK has become an entry point to upgrade the scoring in education because it is more accountable, transparent and better recorded. With the UNBK it is hoped the supervision and evaluation could be a better basis for improvement of a standardized exam.
“We have spent energy on exams, but the results are not optimal to improve the eight standards of education,” he said.
Although all parties were demanded to prioritize honesty during the exams, Kiki said, the national exam could not be used to measure the honesty of students. It is because the exam material was not designed to measure that. “So, do not make the exam measure the honesty of students. It is aimed to measure competency, which is also affected by the standards of teachers, facilities and the learning process,” she said.
We must ensure, Kiki said, that the exams are organized with integrity. Therefore, they will be a real portrait of the competency of the students that can be used to improve other standards. “Thus, the national exam is not designed to judge students or graduates. That will be better captured through the UNBK,” Kiki said.
Main obstacle
From the evaluation of the UNBK at SMK, the Education and Culture Ministry research and development agency head Totok Suprayitno said power outages were still the main obstacle during the UNBK. If the power outage lasts about an hour, the school can wait, but if the outage is more than an hour long, the third exam session at 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. will be canceled and rescheduled for April 18 and 19.
“The reason is the students must not be at school later than 5 p.m.,” Totok said. During school, 5 p.m. is the limit for students to be at school for extra curriculum activities.
In 2016, the UNBK was held by 3,400 schools. This year, 33,448 schools are taking part with about 3.78 million students.
From the internet side, Totok said there was relatively no problem. The internet was only used to download the exam materials to the server computers. If the power blackout occurs during the exam, the student’s answers are saved in the system. “Each province has a service center if there is network glitch. They can guide the technicians via phones,” Totok said.
The Education and Culture Ministry can also improve coordination with the state electricity firm PT PLN and state telecommunication company PT Telkom to ensure the the UNBK for SMA/SMA and SMP/MTs run smoothly.
However, some senior high schools are still concerned about possible power outages during the exams. In Cirebon, West Java, for example, power outages have taken place regularly in the past few days.
“We have been prepared. The computers and rooms are available. Our concern is the power outages,” said SMAN 7 Cirebon City deputy principal for curriculum Wawan Muswana.
