National exam will stay: Education Minister

BATAM, Riau Islands: The government will persevere with the national examination next year, with a minister claiming the results are useful to help improving the country's education system.

National Education Minister Muhammad Nuh said overall, the national final exam ran smoothly this year despite a dramatically lower pass rate compared to 2009.

"We want to take advantage of the exam's results to improve things. The exam is like a small window which serves to view the entire house... we'll find out the system's strengths and weaknesses. From there, we can make improvements," he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a coordinating meeting in Batam on Thursday evening.

Responding to calls to revise the exam, or let school principals decide whether to pass students, he said it is a common response.

"If we follow the debate, it will never end. We respect those who raise the questions but as the government, we also have an opinion."

The ministry earlier announced that this year's graduation rate was 89.88 percent, down from last year's 95.05 percent, with up to 154,000 students across the country forced to sit remedial exams. - JP