A coalition of education activists from various NGOs criticizes President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as ignorant of public rejection concerning the controversial National Exam program.
Yudhoyono has thrown support towards the National Education Ministry to launch the exam, despite his earlier request for a review following a Supreme Court order for the government to first improve the quality of education across the country.
National Education Minister Muhammad Nuh argued that the exam was the only viable evaluation instrument for the country at this time.
Nuh also acknowledged there were many setbacks within the country's current educational system and the exam, but there were more positive aspects than negative ones.
Students and parents across the country have also despised the national exam because the assessment determines their eligibility to graduate from elementary and secondary schools, yet it is reported difficult to pass across the country in the midst of the disparity in education quality among regions.
For seven years, the country has also witnessed students suffer extreme stress as a result of the exams such as fainting or panic attacks.
Education analysts have continuously condemned the exam, because they deem it does not depict education's true purpose, which aims to empower people with knowledge, opposed to teaching them to remember answers.
"In my opinion, Yudhoyono does not listen to what the people want for the exam.
"It has been a seven-year discussion. We and probably the media are also bored of talking about the exam, but the President seems to have closed his ears," education expert Jimmy Paat said as quoted by kompas.com on Friday.
Jimmy said that Yudhoyono might have changed his mind following a meeting with Nuh.
"It is clear that the exam is about politics, not education.
"Therefore, we need to fight against it using political instruments.
"Students, teachers and parents must rally together," he said.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) coordinator Ade Irawan said the exam did not only rob students of their right to learn the best way, it also carried a bad precedent of corruption.
ICW findings show that the state has allocated a significant amount of budget for the exam.
In 2004 the state allocated nearly Rp 260 billion (US$28.3 million).
The budget fell to around nearly Rp 250 billion the follwoing year, before rising to Rp 255 billion in 2006.
The budget then decreased to Rp 244 billion in 2007, but then increased more than the doubled amount in 2008 to Rp 573 billion.
Last year, the budget was around Rp 439 billion.
"Even though the government claims that it costs nothing for students to participate in the exam, the fact shows that parents and communities have been burdened with exam costs long before the examination takes place," Ade said.
"The National Education Ministry must transparently reveal its fund usage for conducting the exam.
"We also want the Supreme Audit Agency *BPK* to audit the implementation of the exam budget," he added.
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