Indonesia
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JAKARTA – Wednesday (07/09/2022). The Director of Politeknik Negeri Ketapang (Ketapang State Polytechnic) attended the virtual launch of “Merdeka Belajar Episode Twenty-Two: State Higher Education Entrance Selection Transformation”. The launch was officiated by the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology.
Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Anwar Makarim during the launch of Merdeka Belajar Episode Twenty-Two stated, “The new direction of state university entrance selection transformation is carried out through five principles of change: encouraging comprehensive learning, focusing more on reasoning abilities, being more inclusive and better accommodating students' diversity, being more transparent, and being more integrated by covering not only bachelor's programs, but also three-year diploma and four-year diploma/applied bachelor's programs.”
The Minister stated that there are three transformations in state university entrance selection. “First, national selection based on achievement; second, national selection based on tests; and third, independent selection by state universities,” the Minister explained. In the national selection based on achievement, the Minister explained that the selection will focus on high appreciation for comprehensive learning success in secondary education. This is achieved by allocating a minimum weight of 50 percent for the average report card grade across all subjects. With this high weighting, students are expected to be encouraged to achieve holistically in all subjects. Meanwhile, the remaining weighting of at most 50 percent is derived from components exploring interests and talents. This aims to encourage students to explore their interests and talents more deeply.
“Students are encouraged to focus on overall learning and explore their interests and talents early on. Moving forward, students are expected to realize that all subjects are important and build their achievements according to their passions and talents,” the Minister explained.
The national selection based on achievement replaces the National Selection for State University Admission (SNMPTN). Previously, the Minister explained that under the SNMPTN track, prospective students were separated according to secondary school majors. “Whereas to succeed in the future, students need holistic and interdisciplinary competencies; for example, a lawyer must have fundamental knowledge of law, but also needs communication skills that set them apart,” the Minister stated. National selection based on tests
The second transformation of the national state university entrance selection is the national selection based on tests. Going forward, the selection will focus on measuring reasoning and problem-solving abilities. Previously, the Minister revealed that under the Joint Entrance Selection for State Universities (SBMPTN) track, the exam covered extensive material across numerous subjects, which indirectly lowered learning quality and made it harder for underprivileged students to succeed through this track.
The Minister expressed, “In this selection, there are no longer subject tests, but only scholastic tests measuring four aspects: cognitive potential, mathematical reasoning, Indonesian language literacy, and English language literacy. The questions in this test will emphasize students' reasoning abilities rather than memorization,” the Minister stated.
Accordingly, the Minister said that the selection scheme becomes fairer, giving every student an opportunity to succeed in the national test-based selection track. “Collaboration between students and teachers through honing reasoning skills will enhance student success in the test-based selection track,” he added.
Next, the third mechanism in the transformation of state university entrance selection is independent selection by state universities. In this track, the government regulates that selection must be conducted more transparently by requiring state universities to undertake several measures before and after conducting independent selection.
Prior to the implementation of independent selection, state universities are required to announce several matters, including the number of prospective students to be admitted in each study program/faculty; prospective student assessment methods consisting of independent tests, collaborative testing via higher education consortiums, utilizing scores from the national test-based selection, and/or other necessary prospective student assessment methods; as well as the fees or methods for determining fees charged to prospective students who pass the selection.
The Minister further conveyed that following the implementation of independent selection, state universities are required to announce several things, including the number of participants who passed the selection and remaining unfilled quotas; an objection period of five working days after the selection announcement; and the procedures for contesting selection results.
The Minister also invited the public to participate in monitoring so that independent selection can be implemented transparently and accountably. According to him, independent selection by state universities must be based on academic merit and prohibited from being tied to commercial purposes. Through this new mechanism, the public can actively take part in supervising the independent selection process at state universities.
“If there is preliminary evidence of regulatory violations during the selection process, prospective students or the public can report it through the Inspectorate General's whistleblowing system channels at https://wbs.kemdikbud.go.id or https://kemdikbud.lapor.go.id,” urged the Minister.
Through a fairer transformation of state university entrance selection, it is expected to foster improvements in the secondary education learning environment, thereby producing increasingly competent prospective students. Concluding his presentation, the Minister shared a message. “A developed nation always provides opportunities to those with talent and hard work,” he concluded.
Endang Kusmana, Director of Politap, welcomed the transformation of state university entrance selection to become more holistic, inclusive, and transparent, so that incoming student quality matches competence.