PETALING JAYA: Sarawak’s plan to develop a statewide examination for its Year Six pupils in place of the abolished Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) shows that there are gaps in the current school-based assessment system, say parents.
Melaka Action Group For Parents in Education (Magpie) chairman Mak Chee Kin said it does not augur well for the assessment system if Sarawak intends to have its own state exams, and if there have been calls by parents to bring back UPSR and Pentaksiran Tingkatan Tiga (PT3).
He also said that while rote learning is not encouraged, parents do feel that the current school-based assessment is not good enough and has many shortcomings.
“Many argue that there is no indicator of their kids’ progress and many teachers are still not professional enough to give a holistic and fair assessment. There have been cases of biased assessments too.
“With the present system, many children too are not motivated to study and are always glued to online games and such.
“With no tests or exams, many parents find it hard to motivate children to study,” he said when contacted yesterday.
However, instead of reviving UPSR or PT3, which Mak said could have repercussions, he suggested improvising the present system by incorporating semester-style tests or exams instead.
This will at least motivate students and enable their progress to be charted, he added.
St Xavier’s Institution board of governors chairman Victor Tan said having school-based assessments in lieu of the UPSR is good enough, but clear guidelines from the Education Ministry are lacking.
“They should concentrate on primary school pupils being able to read and write as some of them, when they go to secondary school, cannot read and write, which are the most basic skills.
“Primary education should emphasise more on character building and basics such as reading and writing, so I think having school-based assessments instead of UPSR are good enough.
“But the Education Ministry must give very good guidelines that are very clear as different people will have different interpretations,” he said.
However, Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said the current school-based assessments can be tweaked to reflect UPSR standards without having more examinations.
Even without the UPSR, Azimah believed that students can still achieve the highest of standards if such assessments are conducted properly.
“In the past, the stresses of year-end assessments had taken a toll on teachers and students.
“Teachers were chasing to complete syllabi rather than ensuring students learn,” she said.
Azimah added that Sarawak, in developing its own Year 6 assessment exams, should avoid the same pitfalls of “teachers teaching for the test” rather than educating.
She said Sarawak is on a trajectory of its own and free from “the shackles of the federal education system”.
“In fact, the World Bank applauds autonomy as it uplifts student performance,” Azimah said.
National Parent-Teacher Association Consultative Council president Datuk Dr Mohamad Ali Hasan said the Sarawak government’s move to develop its own Year Six test raises many questions, especially as some have linked this to discord in the relationship between Sarawak and the Federal Government.
“Is the federal education system irrelevant to Sarawak? What is lacking should be negotiated for a mutual agreement.
“Maybe Sarawak hopes that some things could be improved, but surely this is not difficult for the federal Education Ministry to fulfil.
“Will Sabah also follow suit and establish the UPSR Sabah system?” he asked.
Mohamad Ali added that he believes there are scope and opportunity to preserve the harmony of the people of Malaysia, especially through education, and to move in tandem through an education system that is universal and acceptable to all.
