Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs, Muhadjir Effendy, delivered the remarks at the Presidential Palace complex here on Thursday.
The zoning method involves the enrolment of prospective students based on their domicile and depending on zoning areas determined by the local government.
The minister's remarks were in response to findings of manipulation in several regions, where parents cheated the zoning system to ensure their child was admitted to their preferred public school, which they believed to be better.
"I believe the zoning system remains important in our effort to prevent school 'casteisation'; manipulations in the past were worse than the current cases, anyway," Effendy said.
With the implementation of the zoning method in new student enrolment, regional authorities are responsible for two main tasks to ensure the system is not manipulated at the expense of potential students living closer to a school.
The first task is to set up a regional regulation to enforce the system and provide a legal basis for penalties against violations, he informed.
The responsibility is consistent with the government's approach to educational policy, which is to be implemented concurrently between the central government and the regional authorities.
"If no actions are taken against those manipulations, particularly when even the officials are involved, it will worsen," Effendy stressed.
The second task is to ensure all public schools have the same quality, which will enhance the zoning method implementation in public school admission, he said.
"(By then), there will be no 'favorite' school, as all schools will be favored. Hence, no person will manipulate the system because of the perception that (their children) should be in the 'favorite' school," the coordinating minister explained.
If manipulation, or the tendency of parents to indulge in 'favoritism,' persists, the regional authority must conduct an internal evaluation of implemented programs to improve school quality, he said.
The minister also emphasized that cases involving manipulation of the school admission process have not been seen in all regions. He said that Jakarta is one of the provinces with the best policies for ensuring quality education at all public schools.
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Translator: Gilang G & Mentari DG, Nabil I
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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