Name : Muhammad Rafi Effendi
Student Number : 51922160
Class : DKV 5
PPDB Zoning System Needs to be Evaluated, Graduation of 31 Favorite
High School Students in Medan Cancelled
The graduation of 31 prospective students of favorite high schools in Medan, North Sumatra,
has been revoked due to falsified population data. The equalization of school quality after
seven years of zoning system is considered to be not evident because it was not followed by
an improvement in the quality of teachers and school principals.
The Head of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia, Representative of North Sumatra
Abyadi Siregar, stated in Medan on Saturday (15/7/2023), that an investigation would be
conducted at SMAN 1 Medan and SMAN 2 Medan following the announcement of the
zoning system's admissions results. The investigation was conducted after allegations of
cheating were reported.
After an investigation, there were 31 prospective students who cheated. Most of them were
listed on the family card of residents who lived near the school.
The cheating mode was carried out by deceiving the PPDB online technical guidelines. In
order to pass the rules, the perpetrators obtained a statement from the Medan City Population
and Civil Registry Office regarding the use of the KK.
However, the certificate cannot be given to everyone. The certificate only applies to new
family members such as a newborn child. Due to not fulfilling this requirement, the
graduation of the 31 prospective students was revoked.
The Bogor City Government has formed a special team to verify the registration of new
students (PPDB) for 2023 in response to reports from residents and findings in the field
regarding indications of cheating or improper registration.
"We found that a prospective student of Batak descent had been living together with an ethnic
Tamil family for over a year under one household that's located very close to SMA Negeri 1
Medan. They are not related. This is clearly a case of deceit," said Abyadi.
According to Abyadi, the guidelines for the zoning system in the student admissions selection
process (PPDB) need to be improved to close loopholes for cheating. He reminded that the
zoning system was created because there were many cases of cheating in the PPDB. Prior to
the zoning system, the Ombudsman of North Sumatra once found that parents paid IDR 40
million to enroll their child in State High School 1 in Medan.
Abyadi stated that the loopholes in the zoning system of the PPDB guidelines must be closed.
One of the necessary measures is to conduct factual verification in the field. However, it is
difficult to do so under current conditions. The selection officers in one school are only 5-10
people. They have to verify up to 3,000 applicants.
In addition to being in the selection process, Abyadi also requests that government officials
who issue population data to cheat on the zoning system for the PPDB also be sanctioned.
Professor of the Faculty of Language and Arts at the State University of Medan, Sri Minda
Murni, stated that a thorough evaluation of the zonal-based student admission system (PPDB)
is necessary. "The reality is that now everyone knows that a child whose home is far away
can manage their family card to a location that allows them to enter the school they aspire
to," said Sri.
Sri states that the zoning system actually provides opportunities for children to have access to
quality schools, especially those near their place of residence. The zoning system is also
expected to make the quality of education in schools more evenly distributed. There are no
more favorite schools that receive the best students and facilities.
"However, the positive aspect of the zoning system can only be achieved if accompanied by
an improvement in the quality of schools, especially the equalization of the quality of
teachers and principals," said Sri.
If only with the zoning system, Sri said that what actually happened was the quality of
several schools decreased, especially favorite schools. Meanwhile, other schools that are not
favorites also do not improve in quality.
With the zoning system, the selection of school principals should come from the best teachers
who are capable of supervising and organizing programs through school activity plans and
budgets. "The school principal must be able to design the BOS fund to achieve goals," said
Sri.
The zoning system must also be followed by an improvement in the quality of teachers. This
has not been seen since the zoning system was implemented. However, the Merdeka
Curriculum which is now being initiated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and
Technology also places teachers in a very central role in improving the quality of schools. Sri
does not see any enthusiasm from teachers to implement the curriculum that provides more
space for them.
