Jakarta. School exams are transitioning into the cloud to contain the Covid-19 contagion, following weeks of students abandoning classes to follow the government call.

Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makarim planned to scrap the national exam by 2021, but with more than eight million test takers at risk of catching the pneumonia-like disease, the exam is canceled a year earlier than the original plan.

In lieu of the nationwide exam, schools can opt to hold online exams to determine whether a student is fit to enroll to higher education levels.

At a video conference with the minister on Friday, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) named the exam's cancelation as a momentum to tweak the education system.

This followed Indonesia's declining score in the Program for International Students Assessment (PISA) - a global assessment on a country's education quality based on competence in reading, mathematics and sciences.

Nadiem later announced his strategies to boost the PISA score and that included partnering with education technology startups. 

With more spotlight, these “edtech” companies are challenged to polish their remote learning capabilities - be it during the pandemic or in the long run.

"To assist schools during the pandemic, we have come up with a multiple choice exam. The questions and answers will be randomly generated for all test participants," e-learning app WeKiddo chief executive Ferry Irawan said on Friday.

During the test, students can mark questions they are confused with. Once they review their answers, students can immediately return to the previously marked questions.

A timer is available to show how much time remains before the exam ends. WeKiddo also answers e-learning app's recurring issue of unstable internet connectivity.

With the app, students can still resume their exams even if they are suddenly disconnected. Once the internet is back alive, their answers will immediately be saved in the cloud.

Launched in 2019, WeKiddo serves as a communication platform between schools, parents and students. The app allows teachers to give assignments and projects for students to do from within their four walls.

Parents can also play a more active role by monitoring their children's learning activities, including their exams, scores, schedules and attendance from their phones.

As of now, WeKiddo has facilitated 191 schools in carrying out virtual learning.