Indonesia's Elementary Schools Drop Literacy Test from Admission Process

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's Ministry of Education, Elementary, and Secondary (Kemendikdasmen) has eliminated the reading, writing, and arithmetic or literacy test from the selection process for new students at the elementary school (SD) level. This decision is stipulated in Ministerial Regulation No. 3 of 2025 concerning the New Student Admission System (SPMB) for the 2025/2026 academic year.

"New student candidates for grade 1 of elementary school are not required to take reading, writing, and arithmetic skills tests and/or other forms of tests," reads Article 11 Paragraph 5 of the minister's regulation.

Quoting the official Instagram page of the Ministry at @kemendikdasmen, the elimination of the literacy test for admission to elementary school aims to provide equal opportunities for all children without distinguishing their initial academic abilities.

"The hope is that without the literacy test, children can study and develop in a relaxed manner and develop comprehensively in cognitive, emotional, and social aspects," the post said on Saturday, May 24, 2025.

In the SPMB student admission system, the general requirements for prospective students entering elementary school are to meet the age limit and/or have completed education at the previous level. The minimum age for children entering elementary school in the SPMB 2025 is prioritized for 7 years old.

However, for prospective students aged at least 5 years 6 months on July 1 of the current year, they can enroll in elementary school if they have exceptional intelligence and/or talent, as well as psychological readiness. This information must be recommended through a written statement by a professional psychologist.

This year marks the first debut of the new student admission system initiated by Minister Abdul Mu'ti. The SPMB replaces the previous New Student Admission System (PPDB), which was implemented during Nadiem Makarim's leadership period.

In this new system, there are four admission pathways, namely domicile, affirmation, mutation, and achievement. Each admission pathway has different quotas for each level of education. For elementary school, for example, the minimum domicile quota is 70 percent, the minimum affirmation quota is 15 percent, and the maximum mutation quota is 5 percent.

While junior high school has a minimum domicile quota of 40 percent, a minimum affirmation quota of 20 percent, a maximum mutation quota of 5 percent, and a minimum achievement quota of 25 percent. As for senior high school/vocational school, the minimum domicile quota is 30 percent, the minimum affirmation quota is 30 percent, the maximum mutation quota is 5 percent, and the minimum achievement quota is 30 percent.

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