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New student enrollment policy yet to tackle underlying issues: Experts

The government’s plan to substitute the widely criticized public school enrollment (PPDB) with an “improved” new school admission system called the SPMB has been met with cautious optimism from observers, who see the new policy to be off the mark in addressing more fundamental issues plaguing students’ enrollment. 

Dio Suhenda (The Jakarta Post)
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Tue, February 4, 2025

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New student enrollment policy yet to tackle underlying issues: Experts Give your best: Students, accompanied by their parents, queue as they prepare to attend a state school enrollment selection (PPDB) at the SMA Negeri 1 state senior high school in Depok, West Java, on Tuesday. The PPDB West Java, 90 percent of which is conducted through a zoning system, runs from June 17 to 22. (Antara/Yulius Satria Wijaya )

T

he government’s plan to substitute the widely criticized public school enrollment (PPDB) with an “improved” new school admission system called the SPMB has been met with cautious optimism from observers, who see the new policy to be off the mark in addressing more fundamental issues plaguing students’ enrollment. 

The Elementary and Secondary Education Ministry is currently vetting inputs from various stakeholders before finalizing the SPMB, which is slated to be in effect this year. Minister Abdul Mu’ti assured last week that the new enrollment system is built around the objective of providing quality education for all.

“There are a few weaknesses in the old system we need to improve, but we can keep things that have been running well,” said the schools minister, who has been looking to reform many aspects of the country’s education system since assuming office in October.

Parents have long bemoaned the problems surrounding the existing PPDB system that gives larger allocations of seats for students living nearby, under the PPDB zonasi route, paving the way for document falsification and bribery. 

State elementary and secondary schools are required to allocate 70 percent and 50 percent of their yearly quotas, respectively, to pupils who take the PPDB zonasi route. 

Read also: Ombudsman: School enrollment in 2024 still marred by irregularities

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An additional 15 percent of the quota is for disabled students and those from lower income families, under the PPDB afirmasi route. Meanwhile, another 5 percent is allocated for students whose parents have been transferred to the area for work (PPDB mutasi), with the remaining seats distributed for student admission based on academic and non-academic achievements (PPDB prestasi).

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