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alsified certificates of achievement have marred new high school student enrollments in Bandung, West Java. Such illicit acts were allegedly committed by parents, who were eager to have their children pass the enrollment process through a nonacademic screening system held from June 15 to 18. The results were announced on Saturday.

Head of the Bandung Education Agency, Elih Sudiapermana, said while waiting for the announcement of the nonacademic screening system, some parents reportedly falsified certificates of achievement from a basketball club, identified only as S, in the city for the enrollment.

“We are still counting the total number of falsified certificates,” Elih said recently.

A nonacademic screening system gives students with nonacademic achievements, proven with certificates of membership or achievement from any nonacademic activity, the opportunity to secure a seat in state-run high schools.

Several aspiring students, according to Elih, got certificates of achievement as members of a club championing a basketball competition signed by the chairman of the competition’s organizing committee and the chairman of the club.

“They were given blank certificates so that they could fill in the blank columns as if they had participated in the competition, while in fact they did not participate,” Elih said.

The irregularity was uncovered following a report made by a junior high school graduate enrolling for a seat at the state-run SMAN 9 Bandung in regards to another student submitting a certificate of achievement while in fact the latter never joined the basketball competition. Further investigation led the enrollment committee to uncover evidence and to secure a witness in the form of the person who made the falsified certificates.

“It has been going on for years,” said Elih, adding that the organizing committee also found a certificate issued by the same club for a basketball competition in Yogyakarta.

For this year’s enrollment, the quota allocated for students who are disabled, come from poor families, are children of school teachers and athletes, is 16,688 seats. Of those, 5,760 seats are allocated for junior high school students, 2,780 for senior high school students and 8,148 for vocational high school students. Meanwhile, there were 9,353 applicants registering through the nonacademic screening system for junior high schools. Of those, 4.216 are for senior high schools and 4,422 for vocational high schools this year.

Elih said this year’s high school student selection test saw 69 complaints filed to his office and the Ombudsman. Last year the number of complaints reached over 400.

Iwan Hermawan of the Bandung Forum of Independent Teachers’ Action asked the police to thoroughly investigate cases of falsified certificates found in the selection test, arguing that such acts contained criminal elements.