How well students perform at junior

How well students perform at junior secondary school has a crucial
role to play in whether they chose to progress to senior secondary school or
indeed whether they have the qualifications to do so.
In reading, the average PISA performance of 15-year-old students
preparing to enrol in senior secondary school was well below the OECD
average. Some 55% of students did not reach the PISA baseline Level 2
in reading proficiency, which means that they will be ill-equipped for
further study through either the academic or vocational route. Similarly,in mathematics and science the PISA data show a poor performance for
Indonesian 15-year-olds, with 76% and 67% respectively failing to reach
basic proficiency (OECD, 2014). These results in language, mathematics and
science need to be improved if students are to be well prepared for senior
secondary education and beyond. Even for those not progressing to senior
secondary school, this is too low a level of performance to be able to adapt to
a changing and competitive world.
The data on general senior secondary education found that 8.5% of pupils
are over 18 years old, which is older than the formal enrolment age of 16-18
years old for senior secondary education. This problem of “over age” students
is most apparent in remote areas such as Papua and Nusa Tenggara where
over 17% of pupils are over 18. This could be one of the results of the high
repetition rates throughout basic and senior secondary education in these
remote areas.