Dio Suhenda, Jakarta – The debut of the government's new school admissions system has been marred with problems similar to those that plagued its predecessors, as reports of fraud and technical glitches have prompted calls for immediate corrective action and more stringent oversight.
Elementary and Secondary Education Minister Abdul Mu'ti launched the new admissions system, called the SPMB, in January as an upgrade to the previous enrollment system of PPDB while promising fairer access to quality schooling.
Under the PPDB system, half of all seats were reserved for students living near the school. The remaining seats were split into three categories: Affirmative action for low-income families and students with disabilities, children of parents transferred for work and high-achieving students.
But the structure often led to document fraud, as parents residing outside a school's zone sought to bypass the rules and secure spots at the most sought-after schools.
The SPMB attempted to solve the previous issues by slashing the quota for local students and increasing the shares for affirmative action and high-achieving students for junior and senior high schools, where admissions are far more competitive than elementary schools.
Admissions under the SPMB policy were opened last month, but they were followed by widespread reports from regions that some parents and brokers have resorted to bribery and back-channel appeals to secure placements.
In Banten, a scandal erupted last week when the provincial council deputy speaker Budi Prajogo of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) signed a memo that read "please assist and follow up on a student's application document", as reported by Kompas.com.
The politician dismissed the issue, saying he signed the memo at his staff's request for a low-income student whom he did not personally know. But the PKS stripped him from the deputy speakership post on Monday due to the incident.
In South Sulawesi last week, the Parepare city administration launched a special team to probe alleged seat-buying practices after students applying for a school under the zoning application scheme were turned away, Antara reported.
Another case saw the application of a student of affirmative action revoked because their parents were found to have falsified documents in order to appear as coming from a low-income family, as reported by IDNTimes.com.
Lacking preparations
The Indonesian Ombudsman, which opened nationwide complaint channels in April to monitor the SPMB implementation, has reported that many of the same problems that plagued the old school admissions system persist this year.
Classic complaints are still widespread this year, Indonesian Ombudsman member Indraza Marzuki Rais said on Tuesday. There might be areas where these complaints have dropped compared to last year, but that could be because people are growing apathetic.
He attributed the resurgence of these issues to insufficient preparation and weak oversight by local education agencies.
Of more than 500 cities and regencies across the country, only around 100 accurately mapped out the right allocation for each enrollment scheme, as observed by the Ombudsman.
The Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) also pointed out that the lack of preparation from education agencies for the SPMB, including on how the offices disseminate information to parents and prepare for the online registration process, resulted in complaints of illicit practices.
The transition from PPDB to SPMB inevitably brings some changes. But this does not excuse technical issues that should have been mitigated and fraudulent practices that violate children's rights to education, KPAI commissioner Aris Adi Leksono said on Tuesday.
Gogot Suharwoto, the schools ministry's director general for early childhood, elementary and secondary education, was not immediately available for comment.
In a video statement issued by the ministry last week, he acknowledged challenges and transparency-related issues in the new school admissions system, but asserted that the issues were isolated and limited to specific local areas.
"In general, the SPMB implementation has so far run smoothly [ ] and without any significant obstacles", Gogot said in the statement. Any issues or challenges that have arisen in the field have been resolved quickly as of today.
He also called for local education agencies to take firm action against any form of misconduct, saying the ministry has established clear procedures for investigating violations, revoking admissions and punishing those found responsible.
Source: https://asianews.network/debut-of-indonesias-new-school-admissions-system-marred-with-problems