On Saturday, May 20, 2017, as many as forty six students of grade 2, grade 4, and grade 6 of Daqu School Kalibata City Jakarta had a special event in which they had to take the Cambridge English Language Assessment (CELA) as part of the annual academic program of the school.
In the morning they came to school happily to participate in the exam. Some of them showed a sign of nervousness, however, since it was the first time for them to join such an exam in which they have to be interviewed individually by a native speaker of English.
It is also a moment in which the indication of English teaching performance is measured scientifically and fairly through the exam. That is why it has become a permanent annual academic program of Daarul Quran School to conduct the assessment as part of our responsibility to parents and the society, said Mr. Rino Zeldeni, Vice Principal of Daqu School Kalibata City Jakarta in charge of the Curriculum Development.
Students who participated in the exam had to undergo several types of test, such as reading, listening, writing, and speaking. In the speaking session they had to be interviewed by an assessor who happened to be a native speaker of English. This was a good opportunity for our students to show their English mastery to the assessor. For the lower level students they had to color pictures based on the instructions given in the test booklet.
According to Mr. Abdul Wahid Basyir, the Principal of Daqu School Kalibata City, it is expected from this program that our students will have sufficient English proficiency when graduating, and not only they become capable huffaz (living guardians) of Quran, but also competent English and Arabic speakers who are capable in delivering the positive messages of Islam in the international fora. “We are now students, but we will become leaders tomorrow”, said NashwaKhalisa, one of Grade six students who took the exam confidently. ***
