P2G Asks Government To Evaluate PPDB Zoning Compared To Deleting It

JAKARTA - The Education and Teacher Association (P2G) has asked the government to evaluate the policy and implementation of the zoning system New Student Admissions (PPDB) compared to removing them, because they have the potential to cause new problems.

"We P2G agreed to re-examine, fully evaluate, but not remove the PPDB Zoning and Affirmation in particular," said P2G National Coordinator Satriwan Salim as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, August 11.

He is worried that if it is removed, schools will be more expensive and children who are not accommodated in public schools will be forced to attend private schools at high costs.

According to him, one of the root causes of the PPDB problem is the inequality of the distribution of public schools throughout Indonesia so that the government should resolve this, such as building schools with a demographic data analysis basis.

Thus, there are no more schools that lack public students or schools that are unable to absorb all prospective students due to limited classrooms.

"So, if the government immediately removes PPDB, it will have the potential to create new injustices in education and it seems that this is a reactive plan," he said.

Therefore, P2G hopes that there will be in-depth studies and evaluations of PPDB involving the Ministry of Education and Culture, all local governments, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of PUPR, and other stakeholders.

The collaboration must be carried out because the study must be comprehensive from all aspects, both in terms of education, demographic data, school infrastructure, road access, and transportation facilities.

Moreover, he said, the main goal of PPDB is to create justice in education and allow children to attend school that is close to home and safe, and prioritize children from poor families for public schools.

Meanwhile, the Director General of Early Childhood Education, Basic and Secondary Ministry of Education and Culture, Iwan Syahril, said that the implementation of PPDB must prioritize the principle of justice for all prospective students.

Iwan stated that the PPDB routes, including zoning, aim to provide a fair opportunity for students to get quality education by not making economic limitations or conditions with disabilities a barrier.

In implementing PPDB, local governments are given the flexibility in determining the best formula according to the conditions of their respective regions. In this case, local governments set policies at each level through the deliberation process or the Principal Work Group (KKKS/MKKS) which pays attention to three important aspects, namely the distribution of schools, data on the distribution of prospective students, and the capacity of school capacity.

"The flexibility is given to local governments because they are the ones who know the best about the conditions and needs related to the implementation of education in their respective regions," said Iwan.