The national examination is three months away but hundreds of children in Pekanbaru, Riau province, might not be able to participate since many schools have failed to renew their accreditation documents.
Azri, parent of a student at 001 Lima Puluh elementary school, was worried his son could not sit the exam, scheduled May 4-6 this year.
The top school is one of the "blacklisted" primary schools banned from holding the exam for its failure to extend its accreditation.
"Accreditation is not the parents' business, but the schools'. The most important thing for me is that my son can take the exam and earn the certificate," he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Azri's feelings were shared by hundreds of parents in Riau.
The problem began after the provincial accreditation body for schools and madrassas circulated a letter on Jan. 11 to all education and religious offices across the province citing that 30 education units in Riau, seven of which are in Pekanbaru, were prohibited from holding the national examination.
The schools' principals have also been banned from issuing and signing certificates for the graduates since they failed to return the accreditation documents and were warned that if the principals continue to sign the certificates, the documents' legality would be in question.
"I want my child to get a certificate from his school," Azri said.
"If the principal is not allowed to sign the certificate, there's no point in sending my child to a top school."
Elementary school principal Masri Yoda said he was also surprised and had not expected the administrative problem take such harsh measures.
He said the school was A-rated and last year it was appointed to start a process to become an international standard school.
"It's not that we don't want to be accredited, but the time given to prepare the components included in the accreditation evaluation was too short," he said.
"At the same time, we're focusing on finishing all procedures to get the international standard status. But we're ready for the accreditation."
Secretary of Riau's accreditation body, Raja Ramli Ibrahim, said the decision was based on the National Education Law 2003, which states that only an accredited education system can issue certificates.
The accreditation of the listed schools, he said, expired in 2009 and was not automatically extended.
"By not returning accreditation documents, they refused or rejected the accreditation," Raja said
"In consequence, the unaccredited schools or madrassas are not authorized to issue certificates."
He said it was not possible to apply for follow-up procedures since the accreditation process was finalized at the end of last year.
He encouraged the parents not to be restless, saying that students from the banned schools could still follow the exam in accredited schools.
"It's the schools that are prohibited from holding the national examination, not the students."
