Govt scraps college admission tests

Erwida Maulia , The Jakarta Post , Nusa Dua, Bali | Tue, 03/11/2008 1:38 AM | Headlines

The government said it has revoked the national state university student admission test (SPMB) in response to more than 40 universities which had already stopped using the test.

Under the SPMB system, students from anywhere in the country could apply to any university across the country without having to visit the campus to sit a selection test.

They could instead take the test in their province's capital.

Director General for Higher Education Fasli Jalal said here Monday the new policy accommodated the wishes of 41 state universities which had decided to stop the existing student entrance test.

Fasli said fees attached to the entrance test had been prone to misuse.

"These universities are worried about being charged with fraud when audited by the Supreme Audit Agency, but they have not committed any wrong doing," Fasli said.

He was speaking on the sidelines the seventh E-9 Ministerial Review Meeting on Teachers Education and Trainings here.

The new policy would allow individual state universities to administer their own admission tests.

A total of 56 state universities across the country grouped under the SPMB Association used to rely on the national tests to recruit students.

The government has recently issued a regulation, which requires all state institutions, including state universities, to legally charge fees to the public and transfer revenues earned to the government as non-taxable state income.

The SPMB Association said it considered itself a private institution with the right to manage its own money. It said it had never transferred revenue from the admission test to the government.

"We hope these universities can comply with the existing (financial) regulation because they are in fact state institutions," Fasli said.

"What I know is that they want to secure revenue and allow students from anywhere in the country to sit the selection tests in their areas of residence," he said.

There are about 2,800 universities in the country and 80 are state-run.

Senior high school students compete heavily to enter state universities because of cheaper school fees. The government subsidizes state-run universities and this results in a slightly higher quality.

Some state universities which have earned legal entity status are allowed to admit students through a special selection system.

Students applying using this process are required to pay much more than those taking the ordinary test.

The universities also admit shortlisted students through the Interest and Talent-based Selection (PMDK), which exempts students from tests.

Comments (0) | Post comment

A | A | A |