
KUCHING: Sarawak plans to implement its standard assessment for Year Six pupils starting in 2025, says state Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Datuk Seri Roland Sagah.
He said this was when pupils in the state’s dual language programme (DLP) for the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English would reach Year Six.
“The assessment will focus on DLP subjects, namely Science, Mathematics and English.
“Such an assessment is vital as it will serve as a means to gauge the effectiveness of the DLP, alongside other initiatives which we have put in place to increase the uptake of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects in schools,” he said at the state assembly yesterday.
Sarawak’s DLP commenced with Year One pupils in 2020.
It was previously reported that the state planned to introduce its own Year Six assessment in place of the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) which has been abolished.
Sagah said it was premature to elaborate further on the proposed assessment as his ministry was still deliberating it.
However, he said that it would not cause undue stress on pupils, teachers, schools and parents.
He told reporters that his ministry was engaging with officers and experts on the implementation of the assessment.
“Our emphasis is on Science, Mathematics and English, not like before with so many subjects.
“After six years of studying in primary school, there must be some form of assessment to know how good the pupils are,” he said.
On the DLP, Sagah said 606 teachers were trained this year in addition to 5,200 already trained.
Another 1,700 non-option Science, Mathematics and English teachers have been trained for the DLP under the continuous professional development funded by the ministry.
He said non-option teachers were those who were not specifically trained for these subjects in their teacher training degree programme.