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Jakarta Post

Changes to university admissions worry students

Planned changes to the state university entrance test (SBMPTN) for next year are worrying many students, including 18-year-old Cholidiyyah Salsabilla, or Billa

Ardila Syakriah (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, November 20, 2019

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Changes to university admissions worry students

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span>Planned changes to the state university entrance test (SBMPTN) for next year are worrying many students, including 18-year-old Cholidiyyah Salsabilla, or Billa.

Billa is currently taking a gap year after failing to enroll at a state university earlier this year. Like more than 500,000 other test-takers, Billa is determined to do better next year. She has vowed to get at least 600 points in next year’s exam, a figure she thought would be enough to get her into the psychology department at a state university in Surabaya, East Java.

The planned procedural changes in the entrance test, however, have her worried.

The government announced on Friday that students would only be given one chance to take the computer-based exam (UTBK) next year, instead of two times like in 2019. The UTBK score determines which universities and majors the test-takers can apply to.

Previously, the UTBK was carried out in two phases at different times or sessions over a period of 1.5 months. Students could choose whether to join the first phase only or go for a second attempt.

In each phase, they had to choose whether to take the science and technology exam or the social and humanities exam, depending on their desired majors. This meant students could sit the same exam twice or take a different exam in each phase. They were given 3.5 hours to finish the exam.

In 2020, UTBK test-takers will no longer have the opportunity to take two tests on two different dates. They can, however, still pick either the science and technology exam, the social and humanities exam or both of them on the same day. The sessions will be reduced to only 14 and the duration of the exam will be cut to 3 hours, plus an additional 75 minutes for those taking both exams.

Billa, who this year only participated in the first phase and took the science and technology exam, said she had been hoping for the UTBK to be held in two phases again next year, as she was planning to try her luck in the social and humanities field.

“This year’s system is better, especially for those taking both exams. Doing both exams on the same day, instead of in two phases, will be so tiring. One exam can take more than 3 hours, what about two exams on the same day?” she told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

The SBMPTN is her only chance to get into a state university, as she can no longer avail herself of two other options that only applied for the class of 2020.

Those two options were SNMPTN, which bases its decision on academic records during high school and accounts for a minimum of 20 percent of all seats at state universities, and the independently administered university entrance test, that accounts for a maximum of 30 percent.

The SBMPTN, accounting for a minimum of 40 percent, meanwhile, can be joined by those graduating in the previous two classes.

“I’m getting worried, because I believe students graduating next year will work harder, so the competition will be tougher, slimming my chances to get into a state university,” Billa said.

Securing a seat in a state university is indeed far from easy. Competition is tough as Indonesia has a relatively small number of state universities compared to the millions of senior high school students graduating each year, who flock to them given their affordable cost and higher quality compared to private counterparts.

In 2019, 781,088 high school graduates took the UTBK, 714,652 of whom proceeded to apply for state universities after obtaining their scores. Only 23 percent of them, or 168,742 test-takers, were accepted by 85 state universities in the country.

Only 92,331 students were pre-admitted into state universities through the SNMPTN out of 478,608 applicants this year.

There have been numerous changes in state university admission rules in the past decades. The UTBK was, in fact, only started this year. A new agency, the Institution for University Entrance Exams (LTMPT), was tasked with permanently overseeing state university admission starting in 2019.

LTMPT chairman Ravik Karsidi said changes in the 2020 UTBK were based on evaluation and research from this year’s exams.

“We have compared test results from the first and the second phase of the UTBK. There wasn’t any significant difference between the two and not much difference in the acceptance rate,” he told the Post on Saturday.

He gave assurances that, despite the reduced number of sessions, the quota would accommodate all applicants, who were expected to reach 1.2 million test-takers next year.

The deputy secretary-general of the Indonesian State University Rectors Assembly (MRPTNI), Syafsir Akhlus, said that, aside from the insignificant difference in test results, another reason for abolishing the second phase was to lessen pressure on the test-takers.

The change, however, appears to have the exact opposite effect on 17-year-old senior high school student Irfan Hafidz Rahman, who is expecting to get into the Dental Medicine School of Airlangga University in Surabaya through the SNMPTN.

Should he not succeed with the SNMPTN path, Irfan said, he was preparing to take the social and humanities exam in the UTBK, as he was going to change course to take a business major at the same university.

He said he was not confident to take the science and technology exam to get into his dream school, despite spending two hours after school every day and around Rp 7 million (US$496.79) on bimbel (private tuition) to prepare for the SBMPTN.

“Reducing the UTBK to only one phase means reducing opportunities [to get into a state university],” Irfan said.

“I hope the system will not see any changes again and remains fixed in the future. If possible, just make sure it’s the same in every year, so that the students can share and learn from the experience of their seniors,” he added.

Irfan’s concerns were also raised by education observer Itje Chodidjah, who said it was about time the state university admission system was fixed, without any major changes. Any changes, she said, should be based on research and evaluation results made available to the public.

She said changes in the system had led state universities to feel “insecure” about the quality and competence of senior high school graduates, citing as an example the recent decision to scrap national exam results as part of the SBMPTN requirements.

“There should be synchronization from the lower to the higher levels of education. What are the competencies of senior high school students that’ll be used as indicators of whether they’ll be eligible to get into state university and survive there? It’ll be easier if everyone’s on the same page and keeps it set, rather than trying to continuously look for new formats because of doubts on the quality of our senior high school graduates,” Itje said.

She said frequent changes would not be good for students who needed assurance regarding their chances of getting into state universities.

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