A Study of a Wash-back Effect of the High-Stakes National Examination for Students in Indonesian Secondary Schools

Abstract

The National Examination (UN) policy has been a public debate among educational practitionersand policy makers in Indonesia of recent times. Those who oppose the UN argue that there is aninherent ‘injustice’ in applying one examination within a subject area across the whole of the country,the results from which will ultimately impact on the students’ future life. The injustice is largely due tothe discrepancies that exist in quality among schools across Indonesia. Critics also cite the manynegative impacts of a UN upon teachers, students, parents, as well as the curriculum itself.The government is keen to pursue UN as a means of evaluating the results of teaching and learningprocesses across the country. It is claimed that the results of UNs will form important input andfeedback to the government for the continued improvement of educational outputs.This qualitative study tried to investigate teachers’ voices in terms of their perceived wash-back ofthe UN. The analysis of in-depth interviews done with 6 English teachers as participants of the studyshows that the UN has led teachers to teach to the test, made the teachers as well as students feelstressed and under pressure; pushed the students to engage in cheating; and got the curriculumnarrowed. The teachers also urged for changes to current rules on ‘completion’ of high school, andconcerned with the relevance of the test to university admission requirements.