Anita Rachman – Angry that controversial national exams have been given the green light, a group of students and parents want to force compliance with a 2009 court ruling mandating improvements in the national education system.

After the exams were given the go-ahead this week, the group said it would file a request with the Central Jakarta District Court to have the Supreme Court verdict on the necessity of improving the nation's education system carried out to the letter.

Muhamad Isnur, a Jakarta Legal Aid lawyer representing the group, said on Friday they would demand support from the district court to monitor educational improvements, as called for in last year's Supreme Court ruling.

The Central Jakarta District Court is the "same court where we filed our suit in 2007," Isnur said. "We don't see that the government has implemented our demands. Access to education and school facilities vary greatly across the nation."

Uncertainty has reigned since the Supreme Court last year upheld a High Court ruling requiring the government to improve teaching and school facilities before conducting another round of national exams. Those who wanted to eliminate the exams took this as a decision in their favor while the government argued the ruling was contingent on improvements that it claimed had already taken place.

Following a request for clarity by the national exams working committee of the House of Representatives' Commission X, which oversees education, the Supreme Court came down on the side of the government, saying its verdict did not mean the exams would be halted.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Harifin Tumpa said the ruling instructed the government to improve the education system and to conduct an evaluation before holding the national exam. "If the government has already made improvements, even if they are not yet complete, the exam can be held," he said.

Harifin said the Supreme Court gave the government the authority to set the standard of improvements, while admitting that an exact measurement would not be possible. Isnur said compliance should be overseen by the court and not left to the government. "It seems the government is just trying to find a way to legitimize their exam."