VP : NATIONAL SCHOOL EXAM INTENDED TO RAISE EDUCATION STANDARD

Jakarta, March 22 (ANTARA) - The objective of the National School Examination (UN) is to raise the standard of education in the country, Vice President Boediono said here on Monday.

"All students in the country should be thankful for the National Examination activity because it is intended to measure the level of their scholastic abilities and to improve the standard of national education," Boediono said.

The vice president made the statement to newsmen after inspecting the implementation of the National School Examination at the Bulungan high school SMAN 70 in South Jakarta.

He said that besides improving the standard of education, the National School Examination was also used to measure the fairness and the honesty of the participating students.

As an academic, the vice president said, he really cared about the quality of national education.

"I would like to have first hand information about the process of the National Examination, and I find here (at SMAN 70) that the the examination has been organized well and efficiently and I hope this is the case at all other schools across the country," Boediono said.

According to him, the students' enthusiasm to take part in the test appeared to be good.

"I hope the aspect of honesty during the test will be maintained because it is very important to have fair test results," the vice president said.

Accompanied by National Education Minister Muhamad Nuh, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono, Religious Affairs Minister Surya Dharma Ali, State Minister for Administrative Reforms EE Mangindaan, and Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo, the vice president on the occasion also expressed high appreciation to the national education minister and the teachers who made good preparations for the test.

From SMAN 70, the vice president and his entourage visited Al Azhar school in South Jakarta for a similar inspection of the the National School Examination.