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List of national olympiad winners offers glimpse into yawning gaps in Indonesia's education system
The National Science Olympiad (OSN) might show examples of success stories of the Indonesian education system, as some of its medalists have won international titles. However, a deeper look into its list of winners offers a glimpse into the yawning gaps of education infrastructure within the country's many provinces.
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Hilmi Nuruzzaman won silver and bronze medals at the International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad 2019. (-/JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he National Science Olympiad (OSN) might show examples of success stories of the Indonesian education system, as some of its medalists have won international titles. However, a deeper look into its list of winners offers a glimpse into the yawning gaps of education infrastructure within the country's many provinces.
The annual, prestigious competition wrapped up in July after months of selection processes at the school, city and provincial levels. The capital city of Jakarta came out as the winner, bringing home 15 gold medals, 15 silver medals and 18 bronze medals from a total of nine contested subjects: mathematics, physics, chemistry, geography, biology, astronomy, economics, informatics and earth science.
Jakarta's victory did not come as a surprise as it marked the city's third consecutive win. In fact, it is one of only two provinces, the other being Central Java, to have ever won the olympiad since its commencement in 2002.
In general, students from the country's most populous island of Java have long dominated the competition. This year alone, the six provinces of the island nearly swept the field with a total of 188 medals, two-thirds of the contested 271 medals. Following behind Java was Sumatra with 56 medals, Sulawesi with 14 medals, Kalimantan with eight medals and Bali with five medals.
West and East Nusa Tenggara provinces, as well as those on the islands of Maluku and Papua, went home empty-handed.
Data on medalists from previous years show that this year was just a case of history repeating itself.
Last year, Java had 201 of the 270 contested medals. Provinces on the islands of Maluku and Papua brought home none. The numbers were not so much different in 2017, with students from Java winning 197 of 273 medals.
