Exam Session

I am at a school called MTSN 3 Bandung.  This is an Islamic middle school with grades 7, 8, & 9. In Indonesia, schools are either under the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Because my school is an Islamic school, we are under the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Although it is a religious school, it is also a public school.

Peace Corps in Indonesia works with something called the Steering Committee. This is a combination of members from both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Religious Affairs. There are also members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Steering Committee.

When moving from middle school to high school in Indonesia, there are a set of exams that the 9th graders take. Depending on if you want to go to a specific school, you have to have certain exam scores. It is similar to the SAT but for high school. This is because there are many types of high schools in Indonesia. There are standard ones but there are also vocational high schools that basically teach specific trades and once students are finished they can work in those fields. Many students do not go the college here so high school is, often, the end of their education system.

Anyways, the exams take about a week. I am not sure what exactly happens during the exams because I am not certified to proctor the exams here. I have walked around the school and it is probably the most quiet I’ve ever heard it. When the 9th graders have their exams, the 7th and 8th graders do not have school. I don’t have any classes during this period so it’s really up to me if I go to school or not as there isn’t anything to do there.

Later the 7th and 8th graders will have exams but they aren’t as important or heavily weighted as the 9th graders exams. The 9th graders are basically finished with middle school once they finish their exams. They only really come to school if they are part of extracurricular activities that they need to finish up.