AT its recent delegates conference in Shah Alam, Selangor, the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) backed the government’s decision to not revive the Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) for Year Six pupils.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek had on Oct 28 affirmed the Education Ministry’s stance against reviving the UPSR despite calls, especially from parents, to use it as a benchmark for their children’s achievements at the primary school level.
The union said the government should continue with the current system of classroom-based assessment.
Given that this stance is by the NUTP, the voice of the teaching profession, it must have gone through much collective deliberation.A point to take into consideration in a situation where there is no public examination is that parents and pupils in general may adopt a lackadaisical attitude or stress-free approach towards teaching and learning.
Take the English Language subject for example. The English proficiency of pupils has declined even further as many parents do not bother sending their children for English tuition.
I had never provided tuition in all my years as a teacher but this is the feedback that I get from my teacher friends. They lament the drastic decline in the number of pupils seeking English tuition.
As it is, the standard of English in secondary schools is pathetic.
Ever since the 1970s, when the medium of instruction was changed from English to Bahasa Malaysia, English has taken a backseat.
As a result, the standard of English has declined to a dismal low over the past 50 years, with many individuals proficient only at the kindergarten level.
Previously, when the UPSR was in place, there was a semblance of effort from stakeholders, namely parents and pupils at primary schools, to take English more seriously.
I dread to think about the state of our pupils’ command of English in the not-too-distant future.
English serves as an example but the scenario could be the same for other subjects too.
Another point to take note is the number of pupils in a classroom. In a classroom-based assessment setting, it is unfair for teachers to assess pupils if the classroom is overcrowded.
The workload and paperwork burden on teachers need to be taken into account, especially if no assistance is provided.
I hope the Education Ministry leaves no stone unturned in addressing the shortcomings, and the decision to not revive the UPSR, which was abolished in 2021, is a rightful one.
THIAGAN MATHIAPARANAM
Klang
