Jakarta – In this year's school enrollment, each state-run junior high school (SMP) in Bekasi, West Java is to allocate 2 percent of their total number of seats to candidates who display "outstanding merit" in memorizing some verses of the Quran.
To get a seat, prospective students can pass a memorization test, for which they would be given points. A student candidate able to memorize the first to the 10th juz (chapters of the Quran) would be given 100 points. Meanwhile, people who can memorize from the first to the 30th juz would be given 300 points, the head of the Bekasi Education Agency, Inayatullah, said on Wednesday as quoted by tempo.co.
"These points will be added to their general entrance test in the schools for which they register," he said, adding that the Religious Affairs Ministry would also take part in the competency test.
Bekasi has 56 junior high schools, which can accommodate a total of 14,544 students. Pre-registration started last week and goes on until the end of this month. Meanwhile, online enrollment for public schools (PPDB) is to start on July 1.
The city's PPDB policy stipulates that 93 percent of students are to be accepted to state schools based on the proximity of their homes to the schools. Meanwhile, 6 percent are to be accepted based on academic merit. Two percent of students, Inayatullah said, are to be allocated spaces based on ability to memorize juz.
"Ninety-three percent for the zoning system, while 1 percent is allocated for transferred students," he said. (das)