TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Education and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy seems to enjoy making controversial decisions. Recently there was the five-school-days issue, and now we have another rule that is causing a stir: zoning for enrolling new students.

As a way of evening out the quality of schools, it is a good idea. But without proper planning, zoning will only cause problems. It is not news that Indonesia’s education system has never been consistent. Schools, students and the parents of students are the victims of constant experimental new regulations.

The latest zoning policy in new student enrollment, which will come into force in the 2017 academic year, is an example. Without proper preparation, the zoning system is being rolled out nationwide. It was only introduced in May this year with a gathering of 200 local education service heads from across Indonesia, and then implemented a month later.

All state schools are obliged to enroll 90 percent of their students from a zone close to the school. Their place of residence is based on the address of the family card issued within six months of enrollment. The remaining 10 percent of students are for those with good grades and who have moved house.

Confusion has ensued in several regions. In Bekasi Senior High School I, there was a long queue of people waiting to register their kids, and many parents protested. The registration process was lengthy because the address of each prospective student had to be checked using a Google map. If a home turned out to be in the closest zone, the applicant received points. The problem is that not all officials were skilled in using this system. As a result, people had to wait 3-4 hours for registration.

There was also chaos at Bengkulu Junior High School IV. There were so many protesting parents that police had to stand guard at the school. Dozens of parents crowded into the Bengkulu mayor’s office claiming that the zone scoring system was being abused by colluding registration officials who were allowing students to enroll via the back door. They simply modified the zoning scores to add points.

The too-short period for a proper introduction of this new system also made victims of students. Anggita, a junior high school student from Nunukan regency, North Kalimantan, personally called Minister Muhadjir for not being accepted at Nunukan State Senior High School I because, according to her family card, she is a resident of Bandung, West Java, despite having lived in Nunukan for two years.

There is a good aim behind this new regulation, namely to ensure that students with good grades do not all enroll at popular schools. The zoning system can also help reduce traffic congestion caused by students traveling long distances to school. The confusion over the new regulation could have been avoided if the Education Ministry had drawn it up more carefully. Many schools in the regions are not ready. As a result, Denpasar in Bali, for example, is unwilling to apply the regulation for enrollment of junior high school students. There are also regions that arbitrarily applied zoning scores based on their own version. For example, Depok awarded 50 points for students living in the closest zone, or ring 1. This was half of the 100 points awarded for the school subject.

The Education Ministry should stop changing regulations at short notice. Education is not a conjuring trick: change the rules for instant results. The results of a new education system are seen in the long term-not in the blink of an eye.

Read the full story in this week’s edition of Tempo English Magazine