Weighing In on the Zoning System

One of the issues that emerged when I analyzed the public’s response is the failure of students with higher national examination scores in gaining admission to state schools against students with lower scores that live closer to the school or who have a poor household certificate.

Implementing zoning system in the state school admissions process has sparked protests and caused disappointment among many parents and children.

One of the issues that emerged when I analyzed the public’s response on Facebook and in the mass media is the failure of students with higher national examination (UN) scores in gaining admission to state schools against students with lower UN scores that live closer to the school or who have a poor household (SKTM) certificate. The misuse of the SKTM by those who did not actually have the right to the minimum 20 percent quota for students from disadvantaged families, as well as technical glitches while enrolling online, are also issues that arose during the implementation of the new student admissions procedure (PPDB) this year.

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Moreover, the analysis by Ismail Fahmi, a computing language and media analytics expert who used Drone Emprit to monitor PPDB-related conversations on Twitter and social media, shows that negative public responses to the PPDB was much more prevalent than positive responses, as he wrote on his Facebook page on July 12. On the other hand, the Education and Culture Ministry (Kemdikbud) still retains a tendency to listen to the positive responses from the public.

However, two regional heads, Ridwan Kamil and Ganjar Pranowo, have been the most active in responding to public complaints and disappointment and in seeking solutions to the problems that arose during the new admissions process.

Unfair?

Many people believed that the zoning system was unfair, because it appeared to disregard the students\' dedication to learning as evidence in their high exam scores. Instead, this dedication was superseded by the distance between a prospective student’s residence and the school, or by the student’s socioeconomic status. The zoning system was also deemed to reduce student motivation for learning, because high exam scores were no longer a major consideration in admitting new students.

Capping the quota for students from outside the school’s district to only 5 percent was also deemed to be detrimental to those students who want to access better educational facilities and services compared to those offered by the schools near their homes.

The long-held view that students with higher academic achievements are more appropriate for admitting to state schools, given their limited capacity, and especially to “preferred” schools, seems to be imprinted on the public consciousness. These favored schools are deemed to offer higher quality education than the other state schools.

The learning environment in these “favorite” schools is thought to be better, because the students who are accepted to the schools generally possess high academic abilities and the motivation to learn. Moreover, attending favorite schools, especially in senior high school, is deemed to provide a greater chance at being accepted to state universities through the state university entrance selection process (SNMPTN), which takes grades, student rankings and a school’s reputation into account.

Nevertheless, there are also many netizens who argued that the zoning system was actually positive in encouraging equal access to education, so that the schools in the future would be more equal in quality. They also believed that those schools the public deemed to be of high quality actually reflected the public’s feedback rather than the actual quality of learning that took place, simply because these schools had so far accepted only students with high academic achievements.

On various occasions, Education and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy has asserted that implementing the zoning system in the PPDB was an effort to accelerate equality in education. However, the word "equality" does not appear in Article 2, Paragraph (1) of Education and Culture Minister Regulation (Permendikbud) No. 14/2018, which states: "The PPDB aims to ensure the acceptance of new students in an objectively, transparently, accountably, non-discriminatorily and justly in order to encourage improvement in the access to education services.”

It is feared that the absence of the phrase "equal quality" and only mentioning "access to education services" would diminish the zoning system’s main point, so that local leaders, education officials, headmasters, principals, teachers and the general public would not fully understand the purpose of the PPDB. This regulation apparently needs to be revised again to confirm the objectives of the zoning system.

Moreover, the ministry also urgently needs to draft and implement "a full, integrated and systemic policy series" in relation to the zoning system. This set of policies is badly needed, because one of the public’s doubts – perhaps even public objection – over the zoning system is the quality gap among schools in the nation.

Parents want their children to have the right to quality education as stated in Article 5, Paragraph (1) of the National Education Law, that "Every citizen has the same right to a quality education." At the same time, Article 11, Paragraph (1) says that "the central and regional governments are obliged to provide services and facilities to ensure the availability of quality education for each and every citizen without discrimination."

Determining zones

Article 16, Paragraph (1) of Permendikbud No. 14/2018 states that "schools run by local governments are obliged to admit at least 90% (ninety percent) of their student body from prospective students living within the school’s zoning district".

Each region uses its own criteria in determining a school’s zoning area. There are regions that use the distance between a student’s residence and the school – with distances varying among the regions – and those that are based on administrative jurisdiction, such as Sleman, which is divided into the four subdistricts of West Sleman, Central Sleman, North Sleman and East Sleman (Antaranews.com, 6/6/2018).

In its implementation, various problems are emerging related to how these zones are determined, including the uneven distribution of schools within a region, the differences in the schools’ quality, the differences in population density around the schools, and inequality between the graduates of one school and the capacity of state schools in the next education level.

As a result, a single zone may have state schools that face a shortage of student applications and others that are being forced to reject students because the number of applicants exceeds their capacity. Densely populated zones have students who cannot be admitted to any state school, even though their homes are located less than 1 kilometer from the available schools.

Netizens also noted the existence of a “dead zone” under this system: homes that do not fit within any zone so the students cannot enroll at any state school. The students from well-off families may have the alternative to pursue their education at private schools, but this is certainly not an option for students from disadvantaged families.

Since a few years ago, several regions have been providing assistance to pay tuition and meet other school needs for students from poor families to attend private schools, such as Jakarta through the Jakarta Smart Card. Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil has also declared that the Bandung administration will fund residents who must attend private schools because state schools cannot accommodate them, whether for tuition or other school needs. Other regional heads need to consider such solutions if the zoning system is to be maintained.

To mitigate the problems of zoning, netizens have called on the government to accurately map school zones by taking into account school distribution, capacity, number of teaching staff, population density and local topography. This mapping must be supported by accurate and up-to-date population data.

Zones or achievements?

It is not easy to determine the most appropriate state school admissions system for diverse Indonesia that can also satisfy all stakeholders. All admissions systems, whether they are based on the proximity of a student’s residence to school or on academic and non-academic achievements, have their advantages and disadvantages.

Under a zoning system, students can interact with peers who are more diverse, in both their academic abilities and backgrounds, but the teachers will face more heterogeneous classes. Moreover, students who live near a school of lesser quality are certain to be affected negatively.

On the other hand, empirical studies show a close link between academic achievement and socioeconomic status. If admission is based on academic achievement, the students from wealthy families are more likely to be accepted into better quality schools. On the other hand, those who are less academically able and those from economically disadvantaged families will tend to accumulate at schools of poorer quality.

Research and evaluation into the PPDB’s zoning system is urgently needed to establish a strong foundation for the policy, increase the chances of achieving the policy’s objectives, and mitigate negative impacts.

Elin Driana, Research and Evaluation lecturer, School Education Postgraduate Program, Prof. Dr. Hamka Muhammadiyah University, Jakarta