Jakarta, Kartunet.com - Out of seven visually impaired individuals who participated in the 2011 National Selection for State Universities (SNMPTN) in DKI Jakarta, three successfully passed and secured their spots at state universities in Jakarta.
June 2011 was a significant moment when many students strived to continue their education to a higher level, namely state universities. This year, the selection for state universities has been completed, and the results have even been announced. Furthermore, the phenomenon of state university entrance selection can also be participated in by applicants with disabilities, commonly known as persons with disabilities.
They did not want to be outcompeted by participants of the National Selection for State Universities (SNMPTN) who are considered physically more 'perfect'. They also harbored a desire to continue their education to a higher level, namely university. This year, seven visually impaired participants took part in the SNMPTN. All participants came from an inclusive education background, meaning that all seven had attended regular schools during their high school years. The seven individuals are:
- Juanda Saputra from Darul Maarif High School Jakarta.
- Firmansyah from Darul Maarif High School Jakarta.
- Tarup Erwin from Muhamadiyah High School South Tangerang.
- Yudi Hermawan from SMA 66 Jakarta.
- Sofyan Sukmana from PGRI 3 High School Jakarta.
- Erika from PGRI 3 High School Jakarta.
- Prastyo from PGRI 3 High School Jakarta.
According to Juanda Saputra (19), this was a crucial moment in his life, as being able to continue his education at a state university brought him immense pride, especially for his always-supportive family. This visually impaired student, who migrated from Lampung, also recounted that the SNMPTN questions were admittedly very difficult, even harder than the 2011 National High School Exam (UN SMA).
However, he did not despair. Out of 150 questions from the two-day SNMPTN test, he admitted he could only answer 105. He dared not answer the rest, fearing it would negatively impact his score. For your information, there is a specific scoring system applied in SNMPTN and other state university entrance selections: if a question is answered correctly, it receives a score of +4; if answered incorrectly, it receives -1; and if left unanswered, it receives 0. This system likely influenced Juanda Saputra (19) not to answer the remaining 45 questions.
The long-awaited moment finally arrived. The SNMPTN results were announced online on June 29, 2011, via http://www.snmptn.ac.id. All students across Indonesia, including the visually impaired participants, eagerly checked the announcement. Juanda, with the help of a friend, accessed the SNMPTN announcement via the internet and was overjoyed to discover that he had passed the National Selection for State Universities (SNMPTN) and was accepted into the Indonesian Language and Literature Education (PBSI) program at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta.
According to information obtained by the editorial team, besides Juanda, two other individuals also passed SNMPTN: Firmansyah (accepted into Islamic Religious Education at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta) and Tarup Erwin (accepted into Special Education at UNJ).
This visually impaired student, who resides at the National-Level SLB-A Pembina Dormitory, was extremely happy and even surprised that he had passed, considering the immense difficulty of the questions he faced. Juanda is now busy with re-registration at his chosen campus, along with his high school classmate, Firmansyah (22).
Juanda urged all visually impaired individuals in Indonesia to remain enthusiastic in their pursuit of knowledge and to become beneficial members of society. Congratulations to all participants who passed SNMPTN, and for those who did not, do not despair, as we can achieve our dreams not only through state universities; many other higher education institutions can offer great opportunities to realize our aspirations. (Rafik)