No Child Left Behind, Kemendikdasmen Ensures All SPMB Applicants are Included

Director General of Early Childhood Education, Basic Education, and Non-Formal and Informal Education, Kemendikdasmen Gogot Suharwoto (ANTARA/Hana Dewi Kinarina Kaban)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen) emphasized that the New Student Admission System (SPMB) is not a selection or screening of prospective students, but a system that ensures all children have the same opportunity to access education.

Director General of Early Childhood Education, Basic Education, and Non-Formal and Informal Education of the Ministry of Education and Culture Gogot Suharwoto ensured that all children who apply for SPMB will still get a seat in education, both in state and private schools.

"SPMB is a new student admission system, not a selection. The Minister always conveys that the new student admission system must be inclusive, meaning that all children have the right to receive education services," Gogot said at the signing of the Joint Commitment to SPMB Friendly at the Plaza Insan Berprestasi, Building A Kemendikdasmen, Jakarta, Antara, Thursday, May 21.

Gogot explained that the government had prepared four channels of acceptance in the 2026 SPMB, namely the domicile, achievement, affirmation, and mutation channels to accommodate all prospective students according to their respective categories.

"Each of these lines is to accommodate all prospective students according to their respective categories," he said.

He said the success of the implementation of SPMB depends very much on the planning stage, so that local governments are asked to calculate in detail the number of school-age children and the capacity of schools in their respective regions.

In the process, the Ministry of Education and Culture also involves the Education Quality Assurance Agency (BPMP) throughout Indonesia to assist local governments in drafting plans for the admission of new students.

"If we plan well, we calculate the number of children around the school and its capacity, then all children can be accommodated," said Gogot.

In addition, local governments are reminded to channel prospective students who do not pass in state schools to the nearest state education unit, private schools, or schools managed by other ministries that still have capacity.

This provision is contained in Article 50 of the Regulation of the Minister of Basic and Secondary Education Number 3 of 2025 concerning the New Student Admission System.

"The point is that all children who apply for SPMB will get a place," said Gogot.