PPDB Zoning System Removed Or Continued, Jokowi: We Consider The Plus Minus

Indonesian President Joko Widodo when met after visiting the Jatimulya LRT Station, Bekasi, West Java, Thursday (10/8/2023). (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said the government was considering whether to continue or remove the zoning system in the implementation of new student admissions (PPDB). It's being considered. It will be investigated in depth plus minus," said Jokowi when encountered after testing the light train or Jabodetabek LRT at Dukuh Atas Station, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday 10 August.. The day before, Deputy Chairperson of the MPR Ahmad Muzani said that President Jokowi was considering removing the PPDB zoning system next year. He said that the PPDB zoning system policy had deviated from its original purpose, because instead of targeting the equivalence of superior schools actually caused problems in almost all provinces in Indonesia. Muzani said the PPDB zoning system triggered injustice, so that his party, Gerindra, asked the government to evaluate this policy. However, the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK), Muhadjir Effendy assessed that the zoning system was actually better than a return to an old system that had spawned many problems such as forging values to buying and selling seats. Muhadjir said that the implementation of zoning systems has a spirit of improvement, especially to eliminate the phenomenon of "asstantization" of public schools. Furthermore, Muhadjir said the policy also aims to realize equitable distribution of the quality of education in various regions. Meanwhile, the fraud that appears in PPDB zoning systems is called not due to system errors. "If family card contraction (KK) is not the fault of the system, but the supervision is not working," said Muhadjir in July. To prevent fraud, said Muhadjir, the local government should be able to anticipate by planning and mapping the number of seats in public schools, six months before the implementation of PPDB.

Even so, Muhadjir stated that it would not matter if there were some parties who considered that zoning policies needed to be evaluated, or even replaced. "If you want to return to the old system, please. If in my opinion, fix this existing system, please change it if it is not suitable and that should be the case, there must always be evaluation and improvement," said the former Minister of Education and Culture.