Education Ministry held its 'largest ever' engagement exercise before deciding to scrap UPSR, says Radzi

GEORGE TOWN: Engagement sessions involving around 2,000 stakeholders were held before the decision was made to abolish the centralised Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examination, said Datuk Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin (pic).

The Education Minister said ministry officials travelled from state to state to discuss and listen to views and suggestions from teachers, pupils and parents.

“In total, the sessions involved almost 2,000 participants from Year Six teachers to headmasters and parent-teacher association (PTA) representatives," he said in a Facebook post on Thursday (April 29).

“They provided us with enough meaningful input.

“We also went to schools to meet Year Six pupils and hear what they had to say about the UPSR.

“This is the largest and most comprehensive discussion session ever conducted by the Education Ministry regarding the implementation of the UPSR," he added.

In the post, Mohd Radzi recalled one of the most poignant sharings during the engagement session.

“I remember asking a pupil if he will be glad if there is no UPSR.

“The pupil said it would be better without UPSR as he is not smart and that his mother always wanted him to get 6As.

“The pupil added that his siblings all excelled in UPSR and that he had tried but he is just not good at it.

“The pupil said he is scared he will be 'finished' if he doesn't get 6As.

“Indeed, this child is stressed, ” he said.

Meanwhile, Mohd Radzi said the decision to abolish the UPSR was scrutinised in depth and detail, taking into account the views gathered during the engagement sessions.

“When UPSR was canceled last year, we began to study holistically about its implementation, taking into account the best practices of primary school assessment systems in various countries such as Finland, Norway, New Zealand and Scotland.

“We also held discussion after discussion to find the best approach in assessing pupils' development as a whole to ensure that they are given space and opportunities to optimise their potential, ” he said.

On Wednesday (April 28), Mohd Radzi announced that UPSR would be abolished with effect from this year.

He said Year Six pupils will be evaluated using school-based assessment, a system which has been in place since 2011.

Parents and students have mixed feelings over the ministry’s decision to abolish the UPSR.

While some parents were annoyed because they had made early preparations to see that their children would fare well in the examination, others wondered if their children would be able to cope in Form One later with the UPSR gone.