Exposition Text !

 National Exam, is it Necessary or Not?

The national exam has recently become a popular topic among the students, teachers and parents. In Indonesia, the national exam or often called UN is a standardized evaluation system for students to achieve graduation. But in 2021, prime minister Nadiem Makarim announced new policies, one of which is to abolish the national exam. Some people argue that national exams are not required for students as a condition for school graduation. On the other hand, others see national exams as an important indicator of whether students have mastered all the subject matter or not.

Some people argue that national exams are required for students to graduate from school. Those in favor of national exams explain that the quality of Indonesian education would suffer without them, so they try to defend the system. They argue that with the national exam we can know whether students have mastered all the material in school or not. They also believe that the national exam can motivate students to study more harder. 

But there are also those who strongly disagree with this opinion. Those who against national exams say that there is no need for national exams because the quality of education just not only depend on national exams. In addition, national exams only measure a small portion of students' competencies in certain subjects, not the overall performance of students. The UN is also a burden for students. No doubt many students are stressed out because they failed the UN.

In conclusion, the national exam can still be useful for evaluating or detecting students' level of cognitive competence in several subjects, on a national level. But, it is unfair if only the national exam score determines a student's graduation. The government actually should make a regulation that the national exam is not the only requirement for student graduation. There should be other qualifications added. Of course, qualifications that are not burdensome for students