Indonesia postpones national exams due to COVID-19
Indonesia has decided to put the national exams for elementary, secondary and high school students in 2020 on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives on March 24.
Students take the national exam in Makassar, South Sulawesi in Indonesia (Source: Antara)
Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia hasdecided to put the national exams for elementary, secondary and high schoolstudents in 2020 on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said a member of theIndonesian House of Representatives on March 24.
Syaiful Huda, Chairman of House CommissionX overseeing education, said that the decision was made in a recentteleconference between the lawmakers and Education and Culture Minister ofIndonesia Nadiem Makarim.
The spread of the COVID-19 is expected tocontinue until April, coinciding with the national exams. Therefore, theIndonesian government and the House of Representatives are looking at optionsto replace them.
One of which is the implementation ofonline national exams. The other choice is to apply assessments based oncumulative grades on report cards from three years of study for junior andsenior high school students, as well as six years of study for elementarystudents.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Military (TNI)has set up four Integrated Joint Task Commands to handle the COVID-19 pandemicin the country, said Commander of the Joint Regional Defence Command I ViceAdmiral Yudo Margono.
The four commands will serve as sub-unitsof the Task Force for handling COVID-19, he explained.
As part of its endeavours to tackle theCOVID-19, the TNI had dispatched Indonesian Air Force Hercules C-130 aircraft toChina to transport nine tonnes of necessary medical assistance.
The number of COVID-19 cases acrossIndonesia reached 579 as of March 23, with 49 deaths and 30 recoveries.
The same day, Indonesian Defence MinisterPrabowo Subianto said the Chinese government has offered its assistance toIndonesia to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, which could be considered as aform of international cooperation.
Earlier, 12 tonnes of medical supplies weresent from China for Indonesia’s COVID-19 combat, he added./.
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Students take the national exam in Makassar, South Sulawesi in Indonesia (Source: Antara) 
