Indonesia Exams

taken from www.google.co.id

Education is always connected with  lesson, grade, exams, etc. One of Indonesia’s education program is “twelve-year compulsory education”. Students should finish the educations in elementary school for six years, three years in junior high school, and three years in Senior high school. On every grades students will have exams to continue to the next grade. The national exams are writen test to definite a student passed to next education grade or not.

I will tell about my exams since I was in elementary school until senior high school.

I studied in Manukan kulon VI/589 Elementary school. I started in 2000 until 2006. I was a smart girl and my teachers impressed by me. They always sent me as a representative student from my school to joined inter-school quiz contest. I had many kind friends and commendable teachers. Some of my teachers are Mrs. Sri Purwantiningsih, Mrs. Merry, Mr. Efendi, and my headmaster was Mr. Poeryono. Mrs. Merry is one of my favorite teacher.

When I was in third grade of elementary school, my teacher has a sudden test and I hadn’t any preparation, so I only answered three questions of ten questions. Then I went home and told to my mom while crying. I felt, I was the most stupid student in my class but actually I didn’t know my friends’ scores. At the end sixth grade of elementary school I have a national exams to continue to junior high school. I enjoyed the test and I didn’t find many difficulties when doing the test because I already prepared it completely and my teacher trained me with many exercises. And I got the best national score in my elementary school.

After graduated from elementary school I continued to SMP NEGERI 26 SURABAYA from 2006 until 2009. I was happy to study in this school. It has very wide area, many facilities, good education programs, and new buildings. I got many friends, experiences, amazing teachers, and lessons of course and values of life. I joined with Atma English Course since I was in second grade of junior high school. I told to my mom that I wasn’t really really understand English and I want to join in an English Course. After joined in Atma English Course, I think my English ability improved certainly and I got perfect score at English subject when National Exams for Junior high school.

Then I continue to SMA NEGERI 11 SURABAYA, and now I have been preparing for school exams, National exams, and a National University Entrance Exam. I already past practice exams. At English subject, I made a video about procedure text or narrative text with my friends, at art subject I got photography assignment, writing an argumentative text at Indonesia Language subject, marathon and swimming at sport subject, practice Japanese dialog at Japanese Language subject, and many sains practice exams.

I will have National exams a month later, I don’t know i just feel a little bit afraid and worry but hopefully everything will be alright and I can get good scores.

Exam with Mama

The only exam that I will never forget for the rest of my life is the university entrance test. It’s a national exam followed by thousands of high school graduates in 2001. The exam was held in two cities in East Java, Surabaya and Malang. All high school students register for the exam and then test numbers were given by the committee. I had my exam in a public high school in Surabaya, the city where I live now; I used to live in my parents’ house in Mojokerto a small town an hour from Surabaya.

I couldn’t sleep the night before; I guess it also happened to all the exam takers. I was so nervous about the exam, about my future, about what would happen the following day, and about my preparation. I had two days of exam, the first was the general knowledge test, which consists of paper test exam on math; Indonesian; and English, and the second day was the social studies exam. I prepared myself by joining an intensive tutorial few months before the exam day. I couldn’t study well too the night before the exam. I was too worried to study.

I woke up early on the exam day. At about 4 in the morning since the exam was started at 8 and I had to arrive at least 1 hour before the test. It was on Tuesday, I remember the day quite well. So my parents decided we’d leave home at 5 in the morning.

My father had started the car engine at about 4. My mum had prepared breakfast which I had requested the day before. I didn’t want to eat big meal; it’d be too early for my tummy to eat in the morning. So, my mum prepared sunny side-up in my lunchbox, with rice for sure. Wait…I brought my own plate instead of a lunchbox and I also took my pillow with me in case I’d be sleepy on my way to and fro.

My father drove the car and my mum sat next to him. I sat on the back seat and still tried to read and recalled things I’d memorized in my brain. It didn’t work actually. I was busy calming my heartbeat.

My mum decided to accompany me, by waiting for me outside the classroom. She said in the past her father always accompanied her when she had her job test. I was the only one being accompanied by a parent outside the classroom. None of the exam takers had their parents waited for them. To me that’s a privilege. It became an unforgettable sweet and also funny experience I had with my mum, she’s in heaven now.

After having a duel with the exam paper and being frustrated of the difficult questions I finished the first day test at about 10.30 a.m. The first thing my mum did was giving me a big smile and then I started to complained about the difficulty I had, she teased me and hold me with her arms. We headed to the car and I was deadly starving. We went to eat “nasi padang” a malay food on our way home. I was still having my exam shock so that I couldn’t really focus on what I had done during the test.

I didn’t remember whether I slept well or not on my first exam night. What I remember is in the second day of the test, the newspaper had a special pages discussed about the exam answered per numbers. My parents bought two different newspapers, which discussion was given by two different big tutorial courses, and the answer was not the same. I was busy checking my answers, of course I had forgotten many of the answer I made on the previous day.

For the second day exam only my father accompanied me to go to the exam place. My father didn’t wait for me just like what my mum did because he had to go to work. We took public transportation at that time. The exam started at about 11 a.m so I left home later than previous day. Was I nervous? Of course!

The exam was so difficult, more difficult than my first day. At least I knew that I could do better on the Indonesian and English section. But for the second day, the social studies which was a combination of geography, anthropology, sociology, a little math and a little English really gave me trouble. After finished I rushed to the front gate and I found my father had waited for me. He wasn’t pleased when I said I couldn’t do the test well, but what else could I do?

After weeks of waiting the announcement day came. The announcement was publicly announced in the newspapers. I was waiting for the newspaper guy impatiently when my parents still enjoyed their early morning sleep. My mum was surprised knowing me waited in the corner of the living room. I had more terrible insomnia on the night before the announcement day, worse than the nights before the exam days. When the newspaper guy arrived, I rushed into him and got the newspaper, he knew I was waiting for the exam result. I brought the newspaper into the living room while my mum was praying in next room. And the result, I passed the exam! I smiled all day long, I was so happy.

The exam is unforgettable to me, the mix of sweet memory of my late mum, my mum’s worries and passion by waiting for me outside my classroom, the journey, the exam place I had never been before, and the experience of joining a national exam was very meaningful. It is even incomparable to my undergraduate thesis exam. I was so nervous but not as nervous as having the national university entrance test.

I can picture well my mum with her green silky scarf and sunglasses waiting for me outside the classroom. Her smile, her motivation, her support, her wisdom before; during; and after the test will always stored in my mind. 

exam, scary or not ?

Exam, I think many people who after get education ever had it. Some people think that exam was very scary and also not many people think that is was excited. For me, exam was very scary. Why I can say like that?

I ever had bad experience about getting national exam to pass my junior high school. Maybe we can call it with national exam syndrome. Now I’m in the third grade of senior high school and I will get exams after this, maybe waiting about a month again. 

Back to my story, it happened when the exams for mathematic, the syndrome come to me and I got diarrhea. It was really disturbing me, I couldn’t concentrate and I was afraid. But, in whatever situation I must do the exam.

In my country, many students got the syndrome before and after the national exam. I don’t know why but maybe they felt like what I felt. It was scary time when you only do the exam for 4 days after you got your school about 3 years. That’s the government rights to make all of the students in Indonesia got stress.

I think that’s not fair, we went to school about 3 years and we must decide our future about 4 days. I think the government must make another right that gives an advantage for all students in Indonesia.

Besides that, many students felt that national examination also excited. Where do I can find the excited things from national examination? Students who said it exciting maybe they are ready to get the exam and they also study hard for it.

Actually, examination need preparation, our mental and pray to God. But, when I was in elementary school I didn’t feel any syndrome meanwhile that’s my first examination. When I was in junior high school I got the syndrome. In the first and second day I didn’t feel anything hut when the time for mathematic I got sick. Yeah, math was one of the subjects that I wasn’t good anymore. 

Next month I will get my national examination for passing my senior high school. Talk about my preparation, I only study at school, study in course and the last that I do is pray. After my national examination that held on April, 16 2012, I will get another exam. The exam is SNMPTN, it is a selection for student who after graduating from senior high school wants to continue the study in university, but they must pass the exam first. Many people said that it was scary, because the rival was all students from Indonesia and we try to get the chair in state university with cheap fee. 

I don’t want the get diarrhea again in my next exam. I hope everything gone be ok. And I can finish my school with good score and I can continue my study to university.

I think exam also talk about our honesty. We do it in a fair way or not. If you cheat that’s your problem with God. But, as far as my experience cheating is normal and many students do it when the national exam.