DPR, Govt Cancel National Exams due to Coronavirus Outbreak
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24 March 2020 09:06 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Head of House of Representatives’ Commission X, Syaiful Huda said on Tuesday that the House (DPR) together with the Education and Cultural Affairs Ministry agreed to cancel schools’ national exams to further protect students from the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
”In the DPR meeting with the education ministry, we have agreed to outright cancel the national exams (UN) for junior high and senior high schools to not expose students to COVID-19 risk,” said Huda in his statement issued today.
This decision came after the spread and general increase of COVID-19 cases in the country, while the national exams were slated for March 30. Huda said that it would be unrealistic to continue with the original schedule as the coronavirus outbreak is predicted to last until April, as mentioned by experts,
Moreover, the DPR and education ministry are currently studying the possibility of holding an alternative test that could replace the national exams, one of which is by conducting the national-standard exams (USBN) which is an online-based test.
Both the DPR and government agreed that the USBN option is only viable if implemented online as they do not want to see a physical mass-gathering of students in schools amid the COVID-19 crisis.
ANTARA