Do you know ... about the PT3?

> The PT3 (Pentaksiran Tingkatan Tiga or Form Three Assessment) was introduced for the first time in 2014. It replaced the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) which was abolished in 2013.

> The PT3 is one of the four assessments under the overall school-based assessment (PBS) system. The other three components of the PBS are school assessment; assessment of physical, sports and co-curricular activities; and psychometric assessment.

> Form Three students sit for the PT3.

> There is no centralised examination in PT3 and students are assessed via written and oral tests as well as assignments, practical tests, projects, field study and case studies.

> The decision to replace the PMR with PT3 was made after gathering feedback from a broad spectrum of people who wanted an educa­tion system that was not too focused on exami­nations.

> The presence of more Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) ques­tions was tricky and confused students when it was introduced in 2014.

> The PT3 results should not be compared with the PMR results of the past because of the difference in format. This structure of questions requires students to master critical thinking skills and properly understand the syl­labus, compared to the pre­vious objective questions.

> The PMR was introduced in 1993 to replace the Sijil Rendah Pelajaran (SRP) examination.

> Educationist Aminuddin Baki was involved in setting up the SRP, Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM).

> Bahasa Melayu, Mathematics, English, Science, Living Skills, Islamic Studies, Arabic, Chinese, Tamil, Punjabi, Iban and Kadazanusun for the PT3 will be assessed via written tests from Oct 10 to 13.