KOTA KINABALU: The government has been urged to implement wholesale reforms in the country’s education system instead of only doing piecemeal changes when it abolishes the Form Three Assessment (PT3) examination.
Upko president Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau said the scrapping of the PT3 exam would be able to reduce the examination-oriented approach in Malaysia’s education system.
“That is why the abolition of the PT3 must be a comprehensive approach within the system and not a piecemeal one,” he said on Friday (June 3), in commenting on the Education Ministry’s decision to do away with the exam from this year onwards.
The former Sabah deputy chief minister said, among others, that the pedagogy must be changed in order to meet new demands in education.
“For instance in the science subject, improving the interest and appreciation in the subject is more important than academic achievement.
“As such, that is why the science pedagogy like the Inquiry-Based Science Education (IBSE) must become part of the nation’s new education system.”
Madius added that a pilot study was conducted on IBSE’s feasibility when he was the science, technology and innovation minister (Mosti) in 2016.
Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jinin had on Thursday (June 2) announced that there would be no more PT3 exams starting this year.
He added that his ministry would instead be implementing summative assessments besides improving school-based and classroom-based assessments to determine students’ performance in their studies.
Madius responded that psychometric assessment must also be introduced as self-assessment for students in order to establish their strengths, weaknesses as well as talents.
This would enable them to know which area to improve and subsequently identify the most suitable pathways for studies to take on at the varsity level, he added.
“The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) must also be utilised as a part of the education system, just like in Germany.
“Our effort to set up the Malaysian Board of Technologists (MBOT) while I was the Mosti minister was done to give recognition and empower TVET in the country,” he said.
Towards this end, Madius said Malaysians desired to see reforms in their education system which can ensure the continuity of their lives and beyond giving importance to academic demands alone.