Critical Discourse Analysis about Indonesian Education System

Kadek Praditya Dicky Wijaya

[email protected]

Abstract

This study

Abstrak

Penelitian ini
Introduction mathematics have 379 score, and science
have 396 score.
Education is an important thing
that must be obtained by everyone. It is The students’ lower competency
supported by Article 31 in the Constitution are caused by several factors. The first
of the Republic of Indonesia that education come from the students. Differences of
is a right for every citizen. There is one learning style and understand the material
aspect which can form three important become an obstacle factor for the students
elements that must be owned by in gaining knowledge. The second come
individual, namely; character, personality, from the teacher. The learning process
and ability. People are able to obtain the carrried out by the teacher is not in
three elements through education. As accordance with the students’ abilities in
expressed by Soule & Warrick (2015) the classroom. The rest, the teacher is
students must be able to master the skills, more focused on administration rather than
knowledge, and expertise in order to evaluating learning outcomes. The third
compete in the world of work and also in come from the government. The
the universities. government more emphasis on
administrations that must be prepared by
However, some Indonesian’s
teachers. It makes teacher cannot develop
students who obtain education at school,
creative and innovative ideas. Besides that,
do not necessarily have good character,
national examination becomes one of the
personality, and ability. There are students
more important passing standards of
who are smart but have low character.
grades rather than the process of
Even, there are students who have good
development students.
character but low intellectual. It can also
seen from the result of the Program for The national examination becomes
International Students Assessment (PISA) a scary thing among students, both
reported by Kompas.com that PISA students in elementary, junior high school,
publishes the score of Indonesian’s and senior high school. The fear
students competency are still in lower experienced by students about national
level. For the reading have 371 score, examinations is not without reason. The
reason is the preparatory processes for
facing the national examination such as Gohar, Younis, & Awan, 2012).
join the courses and studying more than Therefore, discourse analysis is needed to
usual. Another reason is the national analyze a text that is placed correctly.
examination determines graduation from
Many experts conduct research
the length of students’ study. It have an
about discourse analysis in various fields.
impact on the students’ environment if the
The expert is Cohen (2010) who conduct
students fail to pass the national exam.
the study about Teachers in the news: a
Regradless of the fear about critical analysis of one US newspaper’s
national examination, Nadiem Anwar discourse on education, 2006-2007. This
Makarim as the elected of Minister of study has a purpose to express how
Education and Culture of Indonesia grammar patterns in news discourse situate
revealed his speech is about education teacher identity in relation to knowledge
system in Indonesia. In his speech, and authority. The result of this study is
Nadiem said that “merdeka belajar” understanding about production of local,
means that students learn as they wish and national, and international education must
the teacher only as a facilitator to facilitate be better. In view of the result of the news,
learning activities. Besides that, Nadiem journalists should be prepare the
also change national examination into information as well as possible so that the
minimun competency assessment and news will be accepted.
character survey. This is resulted in the
Sabrina (2016) conducted study
emergence of pros and cons from various
about A Language Assessment Analysis of
parties. Some of parties agree with the
English National Examination in
changes of national exam, some are not.
Indonesia. The study was focused on
The statement of Nadiem and also evaluate the implementation of English
the emergence of pros and cons can be subject in the National Examination
analyzed through discourse analysis. through the perspective of language
Discourse is something complex that assessment. The result is there is some
consists of communication that is carried weaknesses from the quality about text and
out such as conversation and writing such questions. Besides that, validity about the
as articles or newspapers (Fairclough, multiple choice also become weaknesses.
2010). Discourse analysis is also found in
Related with that, Effendi &
writing or speech which is complemented
Suyudi (2017) conducted the study about
by coherence and cohesion (Bilal, Ahsan,
The Impacts of English National The purposes of this study is to
Examination in Indonesia. The focus of find out the reason why the emergence of
this study was to investigate the impacts of parties who are pros and cons with
the English National Examination in Nadiem’s decision.
Indonesia through a range of research
Literature Review
literature. The results are national
examination cause a negative impact on 1. Critical Discourse Analysis

education and social. Critical discourse analysis (CDA)

A study conducted by Nurhadi is the analysis of a concept that affects

(2017) entitled The Appraisal Analysis of discourse critically (Bilal, Ahsan, Gohar,

National Exam Issue: A Discourse Younis, & Awan, 2012). It has the aims to

Analysis. The focuses of this study are describe, interpret, and analyze the text

how texts are produced as social practice and to investigate phenomenon in social

and how texts represent as an ideology society (Bayram, 2010). It is supported by

(power struggle). The result of this study, Van Dijk (1993) that critical discourse

there are three basic of appraisal meaning analysis (CDA) is more interested and

namely attitude, amplification, and source motivated to analyze about social

of the text. problems through discourse analysis.

Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is an
Based on the phenomena above,
analysis that uses language but the way to
discourse analysis can occur in the text or
analyze is slightly different. Not only from
utterances which is interesting to analyze.
aspect of language that can be analyzed,
From the explanation above, the writer is
but also aspects of the context which are
interested to conduct the study about
the main objective in critical discourse
discourse analysis on the issue of
analysis.
education which is become hot topic in
Indonesia. The writer analyzing the issue Eriyanto cited in Putra & Triyono

of the national examination is changed into (2018) mentions there are five

minimun competency assessment and characteristics of critical discourse

character survey. From those phenomena, analysis, namely action, context, history,

this study has the research question: power, and ideology. Within the action,
there are two ways the discourse is seen.
Why do some parties agree and
First, discourse is seen as something that
disagree with Nadiem’s decision?
aims to influence, debate, refute, persuade,
react, and etc. Second, discourse is also of social condition, economic, and cultural
seen as something that is expressed (Eriyanto cited in Putra & Triyono, 2018).
consciously or controlled.
Ideology is a main concept about
Context is similar with the discourse. In the ideology, discourse and
situation. It means focusing in the context mass media is one of ideology that has a
on how discourse is produced, understood, relationship. If the existence of discourse
and interpreted by adjusting the situation is dependent on the mass media that
around. The situation has meaning as who surronds it, then the mass media will be
communicates with whom and why, what very dependent on the audience or the
the audience is like and how the situation users itself (Eriyanto cited in Putra &
is, how the media is, how is the different Triyono, 2018).
type of development of communication,
2. Speech Act
how the relationship is for each
participant, and etc. (Eriyanto cited in Theory of speech act that proposed

Putra & Triyono, 2018) by John Langshaw Austin and John Roger
Searle is used to analyse discourse.
History is always related to the
According to Yule (1996) speech act is
time and event of the discourse where it
action performed via utterances. It means
occurs. For example, a discourse that has
the speaker expects his or her utterances
happened a long time ago. If you want to
can be understood by interlocutors. Austin
analyze through critical discourse analysis,
cited in Thomas (1995) speech act refer to
it is necessary to need the knowledge
the situation where the utterances occur.
about time or how the discourse or events
occurred at the time. It will help to analyze Austin cited in Chrissunday (2018)

a discourse (Eriyanto cited in Putra & mention that three divisions of speech act

Triyono, 2018). namely locutionary act, illocutionary act,

and perlocutionary act. Locutionary act
Power is a relationship with
means the speaker produce the utterances
discourse that has forms of text and
that have literal meaning or the natural act
conversation that is seen as something is
of utterances (Chrissunday, 2018) &
not natural, reasonable, and neutral. This
(Thomas, 1995). For example: “It is hot
relationship is a relation between discourse
here”. The sentence is spoken by the
and public that is connected to the power
speaker who has the literal meaning that is
indeed the air here is hot.
 Illocutionary act means the action. It consists of promise and threats.
intention of the utterances are produced by Expressives means expressing the
the speaker or the intention behind the speaker’s psychological. It consists of
word (Chrissunday, 2018) & (Thomas, apologizing, congratulating, welcoming,
1995) . For example: “It is hot here”. From and thanking. Declaration means effect
the sentence, it has the intention that the immediate changes in the institutional state
speaker wants to interlocutor to do of affairs. It consists of squeeze out, firing
something so that the air here becomes from employment, and christening.
cold.
3. Facial Expression
Perlocutionary act is the response
Facial expressions are a form of
or the action of hearer or the effect of the
non-verbal communication and usually it
illocution on the hearer (Chrissunday,
represent feelings or emotions from
2018) & (Thomas, 1995). For example: “It
someone. The expressions can be seen
is hot here”. From this sentence, when the
from a person’s face, starting from feeling
interlocutor does something like open the
happy with smile of the facial expression,
window or turn on the air conditioner, the
feeling sad with frown of the facial
perlocutionary occurs.
expression, and etc. However, what is seen
According to Searle cited in Basra from facial expressions does not always
& Thoyyibah (2017) and Levinson (1983) represent the true feelings of people.
there are five classifications or basic kinds
Caridakis, et al. (2007) divide types
of action in the illocutionary act, namely
of emotion into three main type, those are
representatives, directives, commissives,
acted emotions, natural spontaneous
expressives, and declaration.
emotions, and elicted emotions. The study
Representatives means the speaker of Ekman and Friesen cited in Gunes &
talk about the truth of the proposition. It Piccardi (2007) mention six basic
consists of assertions, claims, and reports. prototypical face expressions, namely
Directives means the speaker’s effort in anger, disgust, fear, happiness, anxiety,
order to make the interlocutors to do and uncertainty. Therefore, Gunes &
something. It consists of suggestions, Piccardi (2007) explain the characteristics
requests, and commands. Commissives of each face expressions based on the
means the speaker talk with the study of Ekman and Friesen:
interlocutors about some future course of
a. The characteristics of anxiety’s maybe raised but not tense; wrinkles
expression can be seen from lip bite; around the outer corners of the eyes.
stretching of the mouth; eyes turn f. The last about characteristics of
up, down, left, and right; lip wipe. uncertainty’s expression are lip drop;
b. Characteristics of anger’s expression inner brow raised; outer brow raised;
are brows lowered and drawn chin raised; jaw sideways; corners of
together; lines appear between the lips are drawn downwards.
brows; lower lid is tensed and may
Additionally, Coulson and Burgoon
or may not be raised; upper lid is
et al cited in Gunes & Piccardi (2007) also
tense and may or may not be
mentions the expressive of body gestures:
lowered due to browns action; lips
are either pressed firmly together a. Body gestures of anxiety are hand

with corners staright or down or close to the table surface; fingers

open. moving; fingers tapping on the table.

c. Characteristics of disgust’s b. Body gestures of anger are body

expression are upper lip is raised and extended; hands on the waist; hands

pushed up to upper lip or it is made into fists and kept low; close to

lowered; nose is wrinkled; cheeks the table surface.

are raised; brows are lowered; c. Body gestures of disgust are body

tongue out. backing; left/right hand touching the

d. Characteristics of fear’s expression neck or face

are brown raised and drawn together; d. Body gestures of fear are body

forehead wrinkles drawn to the constracted; body backing’ hands

center; upper cyclid is raised and high up; trying to cover bodily parts.

lower cyclid is drawn up; mouth is e. Body gestures of happiness are body

open; lips are slightly tense or extended; hands kept high; hands

streched and drawn back. made into fists and kept high.

e. Characteristics of happiness’s f. Body gestures of uncertainty are

expression are corners of lips are shoulder shrug; and palms up.

drawn back and up; mouth may or Method

may not be parted with teeth exposed
This study used qualitative research
or not; cheeks are raised; lower
design because it analyzes more words
eyelid shows wrinkles below it and
rather than numbers. The source of data is
the utterances spoken by Najwa Sihab and 100 percent has the same meaning
her guests on Mata Najwa Program about as absolute. According to KBBI, absolute
“Mari Menguji Ujian Nasional” is universal or must exist. The statement is
broadcasted on December 18, 2019. conveyed by Retno Listyarti means that
for three years the students studied,
The data was obatained by using
whether or not the students successfully
procedures of data collection. First, the
passed or went up to the next level of
writer watched the video, took a note
education was fully determined by
about the important utterances, and
National Examination. Even though the
transcribed the data. Furthermore, the data
students are competent and has
was categorized based on the types of
achievement in school, so if the students
speech act, facial expression, and body
do not meet the requirements for passing
gesture. The data was analyzed by using
standard of National Examination, then the
theory of speech act from Austin and
students absolutely do not pass National
Searle and also theory of facial expression
Examination.
from Ekman and Friesen and also theory
of body gestures from Coulson and The sentence belongs to the
Burgoon where both theory of facial representatives’ classification of speech
expressions and body gestures cited in act. Representatives of speech act means
Gunes and Piccardi. what the speaker believe or the speaker
talk about the truth of National
Results
Examination (Basra & Thoyyibah, 2017)
This section provide the results of & (Levinson, 1983). Retno Listyarti
this study used theory of speech act, facial believes that a graduation is determined by
expressions, and body gestures. The results the four subjects being tested and if one of
are explained in the form of descriptions the subjects gets a grade that is not in
and are describe in the form of accordance with the standard score then
discussions. the students are declared not graduated.

Statement 1 was conveyed by Retno Based on statement uttered by

Listyarti Retno, she seemed to be anxiety about the

“Ujian Nasional itu menjadi penentu National Examination. It can be observed

kelulusan 100 persen” through the Retno’s expression where the
eyes of Retno are not fixed when talking
and her eyes always moves to right and
left. As said by Ekman and Friesen cited in speech act because the sentence uttered by
Gunes & Piccardi (2007) the characteristic Sophia Latjuba shows she felt sad and
of anxiety are seen from the eyes turn up, sorrow when she found out that many
down, left, and right. Besides that, when children were victim in following the
Retno spoke, the hands of Retno could not process of National Examination.
stand still. Retno always moved her hands
The sadness or feel fear from
when she spoke. It is supported from
Sophia can be seen from the expression on
theory of Coulson and Burgoon cited in
her face. Before she said the word of
Gunes & Piccardi (2007) characteristic of
“victim”, she had raised his eyes, as if she
body gesture of anixety are finger moving
was looking for the word properly so that
and the hand close to the table surface.
the word of “victim” was chosen by
Statement 2 was conveyed by Sophia Sophia. With the expression upper cyclid
Latjuba is raised and lips are slightly tense, then
Sophia’s statement is the characteristics of
“Banyak sekali anak-anak yang … ya saya
fear Ekman and Friesen cited in Gunes &
bilang menjadi korban ya, gitu”
Piccardi (2007).
Based on the KBBI, the victim is a
Statement 3 was conveyed by Sophia
person who is aggrieved in an accident. In
Latjuba
relation to the National Examination, the
victim refers to the students who will face “Pendidikan ini kan adalah sebuah proses
the National Examination. From Sophia’s pembentukan pribadi manusia, begitu”
sentence, it can be interpreted that the
According to the KBBI, formation
emergence of victims, because the students
is a way or process of forming. The
who face the National Examination feel
intention of Sophia’s statement, education
stressed and burdened.
is an effort to guide and educate students
The sentence belongs to so that they become individuals who have
expressives’ classification of speech act character, virtuous, and have a healthy
which has a category that is condoling. spiritual body.
Expressives speech act means express
The sentence belongs to
what the speaker feel or express speaker’s
representatives’ classification of speech
psychological (Basra & Thoyyibah, 2017)
act. The meaning of this sentence is truth
& (Levinson, 1983). It can be called
and Sophia wants to ensure again about
condoling category is a part of expressives
education is not just memorizing the
lessons or is not only practice questions to disgust because it is supported by theories
face National Examination. So, Sophia from Coulson and Burgoon cited in Gunes
claiming this sentence (Basra & & Piccardi (2007).
Thoyyibah, 2017) & (Levinson, 1983).
Statement 5 was conveyed by Sudewo
Statement 4 was conveyed by Sophia
“Bagaimana anak-anak ini nanti lulus
Latjuba
memiliki daya saing secara global.”
“Menurut saya, Ujian Nasional itu ya
According to KBBI power means
hanya dibuat karena kemalasan
the ability to do something while
pemerintah”
competitiveness means it can grow and
Based on the statement above develop. So, global competitiveness is one
about government laziness can be of person’s ability to grow and develop
interpreted as the government does not and be able to compete in the world.
want to be busy to evaluate students’ work Therefore, the intention of Sudewo’s
one by one. Therefore, the government statement is National Examination as a
makes National Examination for standard benchmark to assess whether students have
of assessment and generalizes all of the the ability to compete in the world.
students’ ability in Indonesia.
The sentence belongs to the
The sentence belongs to commissives’ classification of speech act
expressives’ classification of speech act in in the category of threat (Basra &
the blambing category (Basra & Thoyyibah, 2017) & (Levinson, 1983).
Thoyyibah, 2017) & (Levinson, 1983). That is because Sudewo wants National
That is due to Sophia Latjuba furious with Examination to be maintained and
National Examination held by the recommends that National Examination
government as a benchmark for make students have good competence so
competence of students. that they can compete in the world. If there
is no National Examination, then the
Related with this statement, Sophia
students’ mentality becomes weak and
feel disgust to the government. It can be
unable to compete globally.
seen from body gesture of Sophia. When
Sophia gave the statement, she played her From the expression, the feeling
shoulder, her eyes looked up, and also that he feels is anger. He feels anger and
raised her eyebrows and nodded slightly. anxiety because Nadiem Anwar Makarim
The statement of Sophia could be said feel changes National Examination into
Minimum Competency Assessment and shows from the statement of Innayatulah
Character Survey. It can be seen from his that he wants to mentions the function of
anger expression that his brows lowered national examination.
and drawn together and his anxiety
Innayatulah feels afraid if there is
expression that his eyes turn up, down,
no parameter to evaluate the competency
left, and right (Ekman and Friesen cited in
of students. It shows from his expression
Gunes & Piccardi 2007).
that his lips are slightly tense (Ekman and
From the body gesture, Sudewo Friesen cited in Gunes & Piccardi 2007).
express his body gesture about anxiety. It
Statement 7 was conveyed by Totok
can be seen from he always play his hands
Suprayi
when he talked. It is one of characteristic
of body gesture of anxiety (Coulson and “Tantangan itu tidak hanya di Ujian

Burgoon cited in Gunes & Piccardi 2007). Nasional atau di tingkat Nasional, setiap
hari guru harus memberikan the right
Statement 6 was revealed by
challenge terhadap anak-anak.”
Innayatulah
Based on KBBI, the challenge is a
“Memang pada dasarnya, ujian nasional
strong determination to improve the ability
itu adalah salah satu faktor untuk
to overcome problems. So the challenge
mengukur parameter siswa dan juga guru
referred by Totok is a determination
dalam proses kegiatan belajar mengajar.”
possessed by teacher and students who not
According to KBBI, the word only focus on how students can pass
“parameter” means a measure or a National Examination but how teachers
benchmark used to quantify a progress. provide stimulus so that they are able to
Judging from Innayatulah’s statement, he build the determination of students to
intent to convey that National Examination finish what the students must finish.
is a determinants to the extent of students
The sentence above belongs to
and teachers achievement in the learning
directives’ classification of speech act.
process.
Directive speech act means ask the
The sentence above belongs to interlocutor to do something and the
expressives’ classifications of speech act. category of directive speech act is
Expressives means the speaker talk about commands (Basra & Thoyyibah, 2017) &
the truth of something (Basra & (Levinson, 1983). It seen from the
Thoyyibah, 2017) & (Levinson, 1983). It utterance which uttered by Totok that he
wants to the teacher must be responsible made into fists (Coulson and Burgoon
for giving challenges to the students. What cired in Gunes & Piccardi, 2007)
is meant by challenge is the motivation of
Statement 9 conveyed by Sudewo
students to finish their obligation as a
student. “Sekolah tentu memiliki afirmatif
keberpihakan terhadap siswanya,
Statement 8 conveyed by Sudewo
membuat soal musti disesuaikan
“Saya sangat setuju saya sependapat kondisinya, padahal itu belum sesuai
dengan pak Jusuf Kala coba dibayangkan dengan standar penilaian.”
kalau tidak ada ujian nasional tidak ada
This sentence belongs to
tantangan bagi siswa, siswa coba ditanya
representatives’ classification of speech
lah, mayoritas pasti suka ria dia kalau
act. Representatives speech act means the
ujian nasional dihapus, tetapi itu
speaker talk about the truth (Basra &
membentuk karakter yang tidak bagus,
Thoyyibah, 2017) & (Levinson, 1983).
mentalnya menjadi lembek, tidak ada nilai
Sudewo is doubtful about the school in
juang.”
making questions, so he explains that
The sentence belongs to making questions mush have standards.
commissive’s classifications of speech act.
Statement 10 conveyed by Totok
Commissive speech act means the speaker
Suprayi
talk with the interlocutors about some
future course of action (Basra & “Dalam rangka persiapan, pada tahun UN

Thoyyibah, 2017) & (Levinson, 1983). 2020 mendatang pak sudewo, kami akan

Statement of Sudewo indicates that the menitipkan contoh-contoh model soal

elimination of the national examination is assessment yang baru, supaya guru tahu,

a threat that will have an impact on the nanti siswa juga mulai mengenali.”

character of students. This sentence belongs to

It seen from the gestures, Sudewo commissives’ classification of speech act.

looks anger about the elimination of Commissives speech act is the speaker talk

national examination. His hands made into with the interlocutors about some future

fists when he expresses his opinion. course of action (Basra & Thoyyibah,

Related with theory that the writer used, 2017) & (Levinson, 1983). It shows from

Sudewo’s gestures belong to body gestures the statement that gives a promise about

of anger with the characteristic is hand

the new instrument to evaluate the However, the utterances of declaration
students’ competency. speech act does not appear or does not
uttered in the Mata Najwa Program.
Discussion
The types of speech act arise
Discourse analysis can occur
because representatives refer to the truth of
anywhere and anytime. The hot news
utterances that uttered about national
come from in Indonesia is the system of
examination. Directives refer to utterances
education. As previously explained that
about the challenges properly given by the
the national examination was changed to
teacher. Commissives refers to the
minimum competency assesssment and
utterances of the promise of a national
survey character. In this case, many pros
examination that make the students able to
and cons arise from various parties.
compete in a globalized world.
As the data obtained and already Expressives refers to feelings of sadness
presented in the previous section, there are when the process of facing national
several utterances that become data in this examination make many victims from
study. The utterances were obtained from students.
television program namely Mata Najwa
From the types of speech act,
which discussed about “Mari Menguji
namely representative, directive, and
Ujian Nasional”. There are pros, cons, and
expressive, the utterances uttered by some
also netrual from the guest of Mata Najwa
of guests who attended the Mata Najwa
related to the replacement of the national
Program indicated that they agreed about
examination. However, the writer analyzed
the changing of the national examination
the discourse analysis through utterances
into minimun competency assessment and
expressed.
survey character. There are various
In order to analyze the data, the reasons that underlie their attitude of those
theories used in this study are the theory of who agree to the decision, one of which is,
speech act, facial expressions, and body the national examination has been applied
gestures. From those theories, the results for quite a long time; but the achieved of
are obtained. results are not in line with the

There are several types of speech expectations.

act that appear in utterances. The type of It can be seen from the
representatives, commissives, directives, unpreparedness of the students in facing
and expressives appear in utterances.
the next level of education. National The negative is the students may feel
examination indirectly require students to pressured and stressed because they are
memorize the subject or material rather required to learn and memorize many
than thinking critically or reasoning, The formulas and materials so that they are
national examination is like a step or stage able to pass the national examination.
that determines the next life of students. In
These are the reasons why some
addition, the national examination also
experts and education activists express
makes a positive and negative impact on
their agreement on the decision that the
students. If the students successfully pass
national examination be abolished and
the national examination, then the students
replaced with minimum competency
will get appreciation from various parties,
assessment and character survey. The
such as family and society.
statements made by Sophia Latjuba for
However, it will be inversely example, she clearly stated her agreement
propotional if the students fail to face the to the decision that the national
national examination. The failure will have examination be abolished.
an negative impact on the mentality of
Sophia stated that students are
students, which results in students the
victims of national examination. The
possibility of experiencing pressure,
victims that uttered by Sophia Latjuba
depression, shame, despair, and death.
means the students where they have to
Therefore, the national examination which
study hard and struggled so that they can
is determined as a standarization of
be passed in accordance with the standards
students graduation, in this case is not yet
of national examination set by the
effective enough to be said as a tool to
government. It is not uncommon for
measure the ability or competence of
students who have academic and non
students.
academic achievments at school but when
Besides that, the process that they cannot pass the standards of national
students must be passed before facing examination, they fail. Thus, the
national examination can also be said to be achievement that they have are useless
quite complicated. Generally, the school because it cannot help their graduation.
will hold additional classes and provide This is a situation where the students
students with exercises related to subjects become the injured parties.
tested in the national examination. This is
positive but one the other hand is negative.
 Besides that, Sophia Latjuba also makers in the field of education, especially
said that the national examination was a the minister of education and culture
form laziness from the government. The should design an education system in
laziness of government meant by Sophia which the evaluation and assessment
Latjuba is that the government makes a process does not only focus on one aspect,
national examination as a shortcut to namely students’ academic abilities.
evaluate the academic abilities of students However in the reality, from several years,
throughout Indonesia. One model question the evaluations carried out only targeted at
of the same problem is used to measure the one point, namely students’ academic
ability of all students who in fact they have abilities.
different abilities. These different abilities
Moreover, regrad to the national
should certainly be evaluated in different
examination, there are only four subjects
ways, not by uniforming assessments of all
tested in national examination which have
students. This is the purpose of Sophia
an impact on the exclusion of other
Latjuba’s statement that the national
subjects. This indicates that the skill,
examination is actually a form of
abilities, and talents of students outside of
government laziness.
the academic field do not have a stake in
Furthermore, in the Mata Najwa determining the graduation of students in
program, Sophia Latjuba affirmed her the national examination which is a
approval of the decision of the national benchmark for the education system in
examination abolished by saying education Indonesia.
is actually a process of forming the
Then the next statement from the
personal of human. The point is that
party that agreed to the decision of the
education takes place with the aim of
national examination was abolished come
forming and developing all abilities and
from Retno Listyarti as KPAI
talents possessed by students optimally.
Commissioner. In the Mata Najwa
Education is an effort to develop the
program, Retno revealed her statement
potential of students and form the
which said that the national examination is
character of students so that they become
a hundred percent determinant of
not only intelligent, but also have character
graduation.
and skill.
The statement of Retno Listyarti
From her statement, Sophia
have a similar meaning to the statement
Latjuba would like to say that policy
expressed by Sophia Latjuba. The national consideration and benchmark. So that it
examination is the only important point can be compared to students learning
that must be passed by students in order to outcomes to detemine whether the students
continue their education to the next level. are eligible or not pass the next level of
Furthermore, national examination become education.
a full consideration of students’
The decision regarding the
graduation.
abolition of the national examination is not
The national examination is a only received a positive response but also
slightly heavy requirement for students. negative response. Various parties
This is the same as the intention of expressed their disapproval of the
Sophia’s statement where the students decision. One of the party who rejects this
must learn many lessons at school, but decision is Sudewo as a member of the
only four subjects are tested and determine House of Representatives Commission X.
the graduation of the students. Besides He said that when the students pass the
that, the requirement to be heavy for national examination, then they have
students also come from parents’ pressure global competitiveness.
so that the students are able to pass the
The statement conveyed by
national examination with good grades.
Sudewo which is included in the
This makes Retno Listyarti’s commisive type in the speechact indicates
position as the party that agrees with the that the national examination and the
decision of Nadiem Anwar Makariem as process behind it are believed to be able to
the Minister of Education that abolish the form students to have the ability to be able
national examination and replace it with a to grow and develop, so that the output
minimum competency assessment and that will be generated from the national
character survey. Through her statement, examination is students who are excellent,
Retno indirectly expressed her desire that have quality, and are also competitive.
the national examination is not to be used
The national examination has long
as a full benchmark to consider whether or
been a student competency assessment
not the students pass a certain level of
system. From his statement, Sudewo
education.
believes that the national examination is
There should be another evaluation made as a standard of assessment because
system to evaluate and be used as a the national examination is believed to be
able to train and shape students into achieve by taking a national examination
competent individuals who are ready to will indirectly make them have desire to
face competition. study and try to be able to pass the exam.

Another intention that contained in Conversely, if the national

Sudewo’s statement is that the national examination is abolished, on one hand
examination is one of the efforts made by students will indeed feel happy, but of
policy makers in the field of education to course that is not something good.
prepare students to be able to compete Students’ motivation, enthusiasm, and
with other competitors in the global world. desire to learn will decrease because there
In order to find out whether students are are no standards that they must achieve.
competent or not, certainly assessment Implicit in the statement conveyed by
standards are required; and this national Sudewo that the elimination of the national
examination is considered the right way. examination will make students lazy to
learn and make efforts.
Sudewo also revealed another
statement in which it showed that he Furthermore, Sudewo also revealed
strongly rejected the decision to abolish that if the evaluation and assessment of
the national examination. He said that if students competencies and the
the national examination were abolished, determination of graduation were
students would indeed be the ones who felt delegated to schools, there is a possibility
happy, however this would certainly have that the schools have an affirmative
negative impact. Sudewo said that concern for students; by making test that is
students would not have a value of in accordance with the abilities and
struggle; and the abolition of national conditions of students which in fact are not
examination would have an impact on the necessarily corresponding with the
mental and character of students. standards.

The statement has the meaning It has meaning that, assessment of

that in fact, the national examination was students competencies to determine
made not merely to test students, but rather graduation is less effective if done by each
to make students have motivation and school. Sudewo assumed that the school
enthusiasm in learning. It will certainly would help and make it easier for students
foster a value of struggle in students. The to pass the exam and test that were given.
graduation targetthat students must This certainly does not have a positive
impact on students. In addition to success in the learning process over a
assessment carried out not necessarily in certain period of time.
accordance with and meet the standards, if
The problem of abolishing the
the test is done with reference to the
national examination has indeed led to
conditions and abilities of students, then
many pros and cons; but not a few who are
whether or not the objectives achieved
in a neutral position related to this
during the teaching and learning process
decision.
take place will be difficult to know.

From the statement conveyed by

Sudewo, there was also the intention that Conclusion

despite the fact that students did not like

the implementation of the national
examination, the determination of the
national examination as a standard
assessment of graduation determinant has References

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