It might have been business as usual for senior high school students on the first day of the national exams if not for a piece of paper on the cover of their exam paper: The new '€œhonesty contract'€.

'€œMy students told me that the first sheet was a contract that had to be signed by students to prove their commitment to honesty [in answering the tests]. It shows that the government is trying to send the right message,'€ Norita, a physics teacher and member of the national exam committee at SMA 35 state high school in Central Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

She added that she appreciated the effort by the examiners to draw students'€™ attention to the dishonest practice of cheating during the three-day exams.

Cheating has long plagued the national exams, therefore, the government deemed it necessary to safeguard test papers prior to the exams.

A total of 1,644,713 high school and Islamic high school students as well as 1,184,987 vocational high school students took their first two exams Monday.

Education and Culture Minister Mohammad Nuh, made an impromptu visit to SMA 112 state high school and Pangudi Luhur special school in West Jakarta on Monday morning. He told reporters on the sidelines of his visit that no major problems had been reported as of 7:30 a.m. during the busy but orderly distribution of sealed exam materials to high schools in the district.

'€œOur top officials have been dispatched across the country to monitor the distribution [of exam materials] and to help solve problems immediately, should anything occur. Hopefully this year the exams are much better than last year,'€ Nuh said, highlighting the importance of holding honest and fair examinations.

Apparently, despite the ministry'€™s best efforts, prior to the start of the exams, many students had been offered the '€œanswers'€ to the test.

Deputy Education and Culture Minister Musliar Kasim told students to not trust anyone offering an easy way out.

'€œYou have to believe in yourself and not in these so-called answers circulated by irresponsible parties,'€ he said, as quoted by Antara news agency.

The Federation for Indonesian Teachers Associations (FSGI) secretary-general Retno Listyarti said her organization had received a number of reports on the trade of test answers in Garut and Indramayu, both in West Java, as well as Jakarta.

'€œWe received reports on test-answer trading in those areas. Supervisors found answers on students'€™ cell phones. They sent the evidence to us via email,'€ she told the Post over the phone.

Retno also received a report in Medan, North Sumatra, where students had allegedly been told to arrive at the school canteen at 5 a.m. to receive the answers for free.

She said the FSGI would not report the students to the police as they believed they were victims of irresponsible adults.

Despite the smooth execution, there were still minor glitches. In SMA 1 Kwandang, North Gorontalo, 105 students were unable to take their exams due to incorrect labelling on the exam material packages. Although the labels indicated that the packages contained Indonesian language tests, the proctors found that they actually contained mathematics tests. Due to this, the students will have to take the exams on April 22.

There was also a shortage of 35 exam packages in three regions in West Java.

For Devina, a natural sciences student at SMA 35 state high school in Central Jakarta, completing the first day of the exams was a huge relief.

'€œI still have to study again [over the next few days], but I feel ready. I have to be ready,'€ she said. (fss)

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