Udayana to tighten security for exams

There will be additional security measure for national examinations at junior and senior high school levels in Bali this year, as a special monitoring team will be deployed by Udayana University.

Head of the Bali Education, Youth and Sports Agency, I Ketut Wija, said Monday that the measure was based on the policy of the National Education Minister to increase public trust, including that of the universities, in students' exam results.

He said such a team would be established in all provinces, coordinated by the local state university and appointed by the National Education Standards Board (BNSP).

"The board has appointed Udayana University to become the coordinator in Bali," he said.

Wija was speaking at a meeting with Udayana University Rector I Wayan Bhakta to discuss the issue.

Meanwhile, Bhakta said the team would consist of two groups, an examination monitoring team (TPU) and an independent monitoring team (TPI).

The TPU will consist of 369 lecturers from state universities in Bali comprising of Udayana University, the State Hindu Dharma Institute (IHDN), Ganesha Education University, the Bali Polytechnic and the Tourism Academy (STP).

"This team will monitor examinations at senior high school or madrasah aliyah (Islamic senior high school)," said Bhakta.

"There will be two team members deployed at each school."

Bhakta added Udayana University would also act as coordinator for TPI while the 545-member strong team consisted of lecturers from private universities. 436 TPI members will be deployed at junior high schools and 109 members would go to vocational high schools with each school getting one TPI supervisor.

Bhakta said TPU would have wider authority as members were allowed to enter the classrooms during examinations and to take action against cheating students.

"In the past, supervisors were not allowed to do so. TPI supervisors, however, are not given such authority," he said.

Wija added that BNSP had also authorized Udayana University to scan students' answer sheets as the university already had a scanner.

"We are optimistic that the new teams would not deter students in Bali from performing at their best," he said.

Wasti Atmodjo , The Jakarta Post , Denpasar | Tue, 03/03/2009 1:47 PM | Bali