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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.