Jakarta – The head of research and development at the Education and Culture Ministry, Khairil Anwar Notodiputro, has resigned from his position, a move which many view as a face-saving plot from his superior, education minister Muhammad Nuh.

Reports about Khairil's resignation circulated last week, but Khairil only confirmed the news over the weekend. "I chose to resign from my position and in doing so, I am showing my responsibility to the public for the mess over the national exams," Khairil said on Saturday.

Due to logistical problems, the national exams for high school students in April were postponed in 11 provinces. Khairil said he already considered resigning in mid-April after he discovered that printing firm PT Ghalia Indonesia had failed to distribute the exam materials on time.

Khairil finally tendered his resignation letter to Nuh on May 3. "I had spoken to minister Muhammad Nuh about my plan to resign before I handed him my resignation letter," Khairil said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

The research and development department at the ministry is responsible for the procurement of examination materials.

The department also plays a supervisory role in the work of the Educational Evaluation Center (Puspendik), which is responsible for developing educational evaluations and scoring tools, including the national exams.

Nuh said he did not object to Khairil's decision to resign. "We guarantee the right of every staff member to resign from his or her post. We also admire officials who resign," Nuh said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Following the national exam fiasco, education watchdogs called for Nuh to resign. Nuh responded to the demand by saying that only President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had the authority to fire him.

Dedi Suwandi Gumelar, a lawmaker on the House of Representatives' Commission X overseeing education, said he applauded Khairil's decision to resign. "This shows that he has a good conscience," Dedi said. The lawmaker added, however, that the buck should not stop with Khairil.

"I demand that minister Nuh resign from his position. Based on the organizational hierarchy, he is the chief at the ministry; if only Khairil resigns, then there's a problem with the ministry's hierarchy," Dedi added.

Uchok Sky Khadafy from the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA) has urged the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to launch a probe into the exam fiasco.

"KPK investigators should not be distracted by Khairil's resignation. They need to investigate possible misconduct or graft within the ministry," Uchok said. (ogi)