16/04/14

UN and all the jazz

Senior High School students all over Indonesia may celebrate. The one true enemy that had been looming over three years of education has been defeated! Of course, I'm talking about the infamous National Examination (please note the capitals), which is also to blame for my lack of postings these past weeks.

Source: susindari.blogspot.com

Passing the National Examination 2013 (oops!) 2014

I've been following the news regarding the examination. There were educationalists who complain (eagerly supported by stressed students), reports of cheating acts, and (the most absurd of all, I present!) illicit presidential campaign. What! Here's a recap. Buzzfeed style.

 

People You Encountered in the Indonesian National Examination Event

 

The Rebellion Pact

Source: kabarkampus.com

These people harbor such a deep suspicion, with good reasons too! Heck, I was one of them a little while ago. The reasons are plenty, ranging from:
  1. Leaks, leaks and leaks. (Honestly, I don't think it's fair to judge a pantheon of honest students here from a few bad apples ;))
  2. UN is not an accurate measure of a student's aptitude. (I kind of agree with this one.)
  3. Waste of time and money by the government, for an exam that is able to be conducted by school's own teachers.

 

Cheaters (and making the rest of us look bad while doing so)

A student caught cheating on a CCTV. Source: berita.plasa.msn.com
Well, this is unavoidable. Humans, after all, are creatures triumphant over natural selection. Too much stress? Why, there's no better opportunity for human's mind to develop nefarious plans of cheating. *Insert evil laugh here*

Disclaimer: Those are sarcastic thoughts.You're not going to accuse me of propagandizing cheating, right, government?

On a side note, here's a sweet solution that I've found on the web in regards to our moral problem:
Source: maximusmaxim.blogspot.com
Tadaa!! Instant no-cheat solution....

Jokowi's biggest fan ever(!!!)/PR gone wrong

Surprise, surprise. So, someone responsible in the Department of Education has consciously or unconsciously made this question:
Source: lensaindonesia.com
Translation: 
Ir. H. Joko Widodo, born in Surakarta, 21 June 1961, was an alumnus of UGM (Gadjah Mada University). Jokowi has been elected as the Governor of Jakarta since October, 15. A figure who is known for his honesty and hard work, is also known by his style of "blusukan" - visiting remote areas in the city. He has achieved various awards, including being one of the best figures in his dedication for the people.

As a figure of arts and culture, he was seen as the most corruption-unaffected. Nevertheless, his work in the provincial minimum wage sector has encountered a glitch due to the action of factory workers: calling back their representative at the court procession. The consequence of the event prompted the wage department to determine the minimum wage at 2.2 million rupiah.
(This is a question in the Indonesian Language National Examination.)

Mr. Jokowi has been the recipient of attacks since the announcement of his running for the presidential seat. The critics immediately grabbed on this case like a lifeline, accusing Jokowi of an illicit campaign by the means of National Examination. I mean, seriously.

Here's 3 possible (and fictional, although there might be some truth in it, don'tyathink?) scenarios of what happened behind the screen:
  1. A SUPER fan of Jokowi might have resided inside the Department of Education.
  2. Those PR people made a serious fault in judgment - instead of promoting Jokowi, it boomeranged against him.
  3. Someone (someone!) deliberately planned this as a mean to attack Jokowi.
Since Jokowi has denied publicly his involvement in this case, I think no.3 has been boomeranged too. By common sense, it actually makes Jokowi look good, since he is in the victim spotlight. The public is always on the victim's side (or those who are victimized, either intentionally or not).

And by the way, note to the question maker. The paragraphs look very hero-worshipy. Dude, you need to be more objective instead of controversial like that. But probably, the maker has intended for this to happen. Oooooh, conspiracy *rubbing hands together in glee*

That is all folks. The first installment in freedom day one!!