Artikel Bahasa Inggris

Exams hanging in the balance

Better late than never:Soldiers keep an eye on packages of national exam papers unloaded from an Air Force plane in Sam Ratulangi International Airport,Manado,North Sulawesi,on Wednesday.Senior high school students in 11 provinces are due to sit their exam today after technical glithches forced a 4-day postponement.(Antara/Fiqman Sunandar) In spite of pledge From Education and Culture Minister Mohammad Nuh that all materials would arrive on time for the start of the second stage of the national exam on Thursday,several regions are braced for another delay.

·         an eye on = memperhatikan

·         glithches =kesalahan

·         pledge = janji/jaminan

·         braced = ditahan

·         due =hak/dilunasi

·         force = kekuatan

·         unloaded = diturunkan

·         delay = penundaan

Nuh told a press briefing on Wednesday that with assistance from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police,by Wednesday afternoon exam materials had arrived in the 11 provinces that failed to start the national exam on Monday.

·         Briefing = ringkas/singkat

·         Assistance = pertolongan

“Several regencies and municipalites may not have received the shipment yet,but we are doing our best to make sure that the exam will take place simultaneously tomorrow.I am confident that we will have the exam in the 11 provinces,”Nuh said on Wednesday.

·         Municipalites = kotapraja

·         Shipment = kiriman

·         Simultaneously = dgn bersama

·         Confident = yakin

More than 1.1 million students from 5,109 high schools in Bali,East Nusa Tenggara,West Nusa Tenggara,South Kalimantan,East Kalimantan,Gorontalo,North Sulawesi,West Sulawesi,South Sulawesi,Southeast Sulawesi,and Central Sulawesi failed to sit exams on Monday because printing company PT Ghalia Indonesia Printing,which won a tender to print and distribute exam materials for the 11 provinces,failed to meet the deadline for delivery.

As result of the delay in shipment,the ministry has decided to relieve PT Ghalia of some of its role in printing and distributing materials for the junior high school national exam that is scheduled to begin on Monday next week.

PT Ghalia is now only handling the printing and shipping of materials for Bali.

·         Result = menyebabkan /hasil

·         Role =tugas/peran

·         Scheduled = jadwal

·         Handling = kelembutan/memegang

·         Shipping =perkapalan

The ministry also pledged that it would conduct a special investigation to look for irregularities that could have taken place during the tender process involving PT Ghalia.

·          Irregularities =luar biasa/tak teratur

·         Involving =melibatkan

·         Conduct =mengadakan

The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA) has alleged that the tender for the printing and distribution of exam materials could have been marred with irregularities.

·         Budget =anggaran belanja

·         Alleged = diduga

·         Marred =dirusak

According to FITRA,PT Ghalia Indonesia Printing,which won the tender for 11 provinces,offered the highest price for the project and should not have won the tender.

In spite of deployment of military resources,officials in several regions were pessimistic that they could start the exam on Thursday,given the shortage of exam materials.

·         Deployment =penyebaran

·         Resources=sumber daya

·         Regions =daerah/bagian

·         Shortage=kekurangan

Purnama Megati,head of the Education,Youth and Sports Agency in Poso,Central Sulawesi,told The Jakarta Post that the exams would likely be delayed again in  the area because as of Wednesday afternoon his office had only received shipments of five out of the total 15 packages of materials.

“I have told my superior to inform the Education and Culture Ministry in Jakarta about the problem.We cant do anything until we get information from Jakarta”he said.

·         Superior = atasan

In Gorontalo,many schools received less material than they had expected and had to trade with other schools in the region.

·         Expected =diharapkan

·         Less = sedikit

The chairman of the national examination committee in the area Hamzah Yunus said that in total Gorontalo needed 15 more packages.

In some areas,materials were either incomplete or damaged including those for English,Math,Indonesian Language,and Anthropology.

·         Either=salah satu

Head of the Gorontalo Education Agency Ben Idrus said that he had instructed schools in the province to help each other in preparation of the national exam to prevent a chaotic situation on Thursday.

·         Preparation=persiapan

·         Prevent =menghalangi/mencegah

·         Chaotic =semrawut/mawut

“It’s better to prepare everything today because teachers must fully concentrate on the exam tomorrow”Ben said

Damaged exam materials were also found in Bandung,Bali.

Local officials said that some of the question and answer sheets were torn.Bandung Education Agency received more than 16  tons of packages,which arrived by air on Wednesday afternoon.

·         Torn = sobek

Major Erwin Arfansyah from the Air Force,who was in charge of the delivery to Bali,said that the material was alread=y in bad shape before they were loaded onto the military planes.

·         Charge = bayaran/tuntutan

Erwin said that workers from PT Ghalia gave them substandard materials at the Halim Perdanakusuma Military Airbase in East jakarta.

In spite of problems affecting the high school national exam,Nuh pledged that junior high school students would not experience a repeat of the situation.

·         Repeat=ulangi

·         Affecting = mempengaruhi