"The point is, we ask regional governments to be more careful in making the PPDB plans, (to) not (drawing the plans) too close to the enrolment period," he said while speaking to the press at the Presidential Palace complex here on Tuesday.
According to him, the planning for the PPDB can be carried out one year before enrolment opens.
"Once children enter the sixth grade, they become prospective junior high school students for the next year. At that time, it can already be coordinated between principals, each (education) office head," he explained.
He expressed the hope that the same effort could also be made for the high school-level PPDB so that prospective students can gain information on where they can register for enrolment, and if there is a problem, it can be resolved way before the PPDB period.
According to Effendy, better planning could prevent the same issues related to PPDB from recurring in the future.
"I already have data. Indeed, the cases are not too high, but spread to almost all regions," he said.
The minister noted that the current findings of PPDB-related issues can be resolved in each region if regional governments are more proactive, eliminating the need for central government intervention.
Nevertheless, he assured that his ministry will evaluate this year's PPDB implementation.
He also said that several cases of cheating seen during PPDB, such as faking of home addresses and academic achievement scores, can be anticipated and resolved by proactively confirming data.
He also emphasized that the cases of cheating indicate that there is still a favorite school/non-favorite school perception among people, and it is the responsibility of regional governments to improve equality in education quality.
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Translator: Gilang G, Rangga P, Raka Adji
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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