The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Of the 136,054 students who sat the first of this year's junior high school national exams Tuesday, the city is expecting exactly zero to fail.
Following last year's near-perfect junior high school national examination result, the Jakarta administration has set the ambitious goal for the three-day tests.
""Last year, 99.84 percent of students passed the tests. We are optimistic this year we will reach 100 percent,"" Governor Sutiyoso was quoted as saying on the official city website Beritajakarta.com.
""This year is the third examination and year by year we have to set higher standards,"" he said, adding that during his inspection of local schools he saw no students having any obvious difficulties with the tests.
The governor even promised incentives for students to achieve highly in the tests.
""I will give a free holiday to Thailand to the best student this year,"" Sutiyoso said.
The governor also expressed satisfaction that the first day of the tests started on time, with independent test supervisors present and no reported leaks of test material.
Jakarta basic education agency head Sylviana Murni was quoted by Antara as saying test materials were guarded by the police as well as an independent team from the universities.
This year's examination is slightly different from previous years, with students being given two sets of tests to prevent copying.
Meanwhile, around 180 disabled students are also sitting the tests in 35 special junior high school in the city.
Twelve students at SPMLB Dina Grahita had two test supervisors read the questions to them, while some needed assistance in writing their answers.
""They are different and thus they should follow a different standard to normal students,"" school principal M Joanni said.
Education experts have criticized the national examination, saying it reflects a result-oriented approach to education.
The National Education Ministry has said the tests should not be the sole determinant for whether or not a student graduates from school, but in most schools that remains the reality.
The director of Paramadina University's Institute for Education Reform, Hutomo Dananjaya, said that government should focus on improving the quality of teaching before placing high examination burdens on students.
The Ministry of National Education once again raised the bar for students sitting the tests.
In order pass the 2006 examination, students had to score an average of 4.51 for the three tested subject of Bahasa Indonesia, English and Mathematics.
This year, they will have to earn an average 5.00 and will not be allowed to score below 4.25 on any individual test, the only exception being that students will be allowed to score 4.00 in one subject if they score at least 6.00 in two other subjects.
The results of the examination will be announced on June 23.
