“Even the number one student in my class said the questions were too difficult,” a student commented on the Education and Culture Ministry’s official Instagram account. “I, just a tiny speck of dust, felt like I wanted to die.”

Read also: Indonesian exams 'too hard', students 'want to die'

Last week, speaking before education agency heads from all regions in the country, Education and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy said the exams were formulated using the standards of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), a global survey that measures education quality in participating countries.

Muhadjir, a former university rector with a history of making controversial statements and policies during his term as minister, said the decision was aimed at improving Indonesia’s PISA ranking, which he said was “persistently low”.

“I do not want to blame education ministers who preceded me, but in the past we never used PISA test standards [in national exams], resulting in our low ranking [each time a PISA was conducted],” said Muhadjir.

PISA, conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), assesses students’ ability in mathematics, science and reading. The World Bank uses PISA scores as an indicator in deciding on grants to improve education quality in member countries.

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