Semarang | Universitas Muhammadiyah Semarang (Unimus) has taken part in giving contribution towards young generations’ education and, in this case, education for junior high school students (SMP/MTs). The contribution has been manifested d in form of Unimus’ participation as the host of “Workshop on Junior High School Graduate Competency Standards (SKL SMP/MTS) Review” that was held by th Education Office of Semarang, with an aim to facilitate the management of the National Examination (UN) and the Nation-wide Standardized School Exam (Ujian Sekolah Berstandar Nasional/UASBN). The event was held for 3 days from February 20 to 22, 2018. Fajriyah, S.Pd. the committee chairperson, stated that the participants of the workshop were 140 junior high school teachers of 11 subjects in Semarang.
Prof. Dr. H. Masrukhi, M.Pd. (Rector of Unimus) stated in the welcome speech that Unimus, as an educational institution would always give contribution as well as support towards education. One of the realisations was by becoming the host of the Workshop on Junior High School Graduate Competency Standards (SKL SMP/MTS) Review. “Unimus itself has established a lot of partnerships and made a lot of international visits. One of them was accompanying and facilitating 45 headmasters of public high schools and heads of departments from West Sumatra Province in an international mobility program. The program was held in from February 11 to 13, 2018. The contingent was led directly by Prof. Dr. Masrukhi, M.Pd. and Muhammad Yusuf, Ph.D. (Director of International Relations Office at Unimus). In there, the contingent was welcomed byProf. Dato Bibi Florina Abdullah, the President Lincoln University College, Malaysia. The program was held to build a large international-scale network as well as facilitate the internationalisation missions of the schools, such as through signing some Memorandum of Understandings (MoU’s) with Lincoln University College (LUC) & participating in short course program teaching methodology class at the LUC. Hence, it is highly possible for you all to hold another Workshop on Junior High School Graduate Competency Standards (SKL SMP/MTS) Review, in Malaysia in the future,” he added.
Drs. Sutarto, M.M., the Division Head of Junior High School Coaching, also gave some speech in the opening ceremony of the workshop. He expressed his gratitude towards Unimus for hosting and providing facilities of the workshop. Drs. Sutarto stated that since Academic Year 2016-2017, educational unit exam for several subjects had been upgraded to be Nation-wide Standardized School Exam on Junior High School/Senior High School levels and the equivalents. “By Academic Year 2017/2018, the upgrade has included all subjects. Compiling the Nation-wide Standardized School Exam should be based on the blueprint determined by the National Education Standards Board (Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan/BSNP. As for several subjects, 20-25% of the Nation-wide Standardized School Exam questions are provided by the Ministry of Education and Culture; meanwhile, 75-80% of the Nation-wide Standardized School Exam questions are compiled by teachers and consolidated in the Subject Teachers’ Working Group (Musyawarah Guru Mata Pelajaran/MGMP),” he explained. He added that the Nation-wide Standardized Exam was the final exam of the nation-wide standardized educational unit. “And, since result of the exam determines the educational unit passing, so, questions in the Nation-wide Standardized School Exam questions should fit with the proper instrument requirements in order to provide valid and objective information,” he concluded.
Reported by the Technical Unit of Public Relations and Protocol
