Mak: ‘Have year-end exams for all levels except years one, two and three.’
PETALING JAYA: Bringing back the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Pentaksiran Tingkatan Tiga (PT3) examinations will not fix deep-seated issues in the system unless some meaningful reforms are made, say education groups and teachers.
Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said that if the exams are brought back, the results should only be used to guide support and learning, and not define a child’s worth or future.
“They must be redesigned to test understanding, not memorisation.
Noor Azimah: ‘Exams should be lower-stakes, spread out and combined with coursework.’
“Exams should be lower-stakes, spread out and combined with coursework,” she said when contacted.
Noor Azimah was responding to Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek’s announcement that the National Education Advisory Council (MPKK) would review the matter following feedback on the abolition of the two national exams.
She also said the education system was not ready for the removal of the exams, hence all the problems that followed.
“Implementation moved faster than teacher readiness and assessment reform,” she pointed out.
She believes exams should be removed entirely from the education system in the future, but only when schools can assess students fairly and consistently nationwide.
“Exams should be removed because the system is strong, not to fix its weaknesses,” Noor Azimah added.
According to National Teachers Service Union of Malaysia secretary-general Fouzi Singon, the assumption that students may lose motivation because there is no central examination is flawed.
“Examinations and assessments still exist. The issue is not the absence of exams, but rather that these assessments are perceived as lacking value or equivalence.
Hamidi: ‘Having national exams can help standardise educational outcomes nationwide.’
“A more constructive solution would be to standardise and equate assessments through the Malaysia Examinations Syndicate using a clear benchmarking or standard-setting table,” he said.
He said education at the primary level should focus on building strong foundations, not on producing “examination trophies”.
“A system that truly values mastery over marks will better serve students, parents, and the nation in the long run,” Fouzi said.
Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education (Magpie) chairman Mak Chee Kin suggested that instead of reviving UPSR and PT3, year-end examinations should be held for all levels except years one, two and three.
A secondary school teacher who wanted to be known only as Murugan, however, said bringing the national exams back will give students “a point to studying in school” as such exams can help gauge how much a student has actually learnt.
“We need to know where students stand and what areas can be worked on to help them out,” the Subang Jaya-based teacher noted.
He added that the quality of education has declined since the exams were abolished because students no longer see the point of studying well and doing their best.
“Students feel it is not important or recognised, and that nothing changes if they do exceptionally well or simply pass the exams for the sake of passing.
“In the past, we never had issues with exams,” added the English teacher with 29 years of experience.
Fouzi: ‘A system that values mastery over marks will better serve the nation in the long run.’
Malaysian Association for Education secretary Hamidi Mookkaiyah Abdullah said the potential return of the UPSR and PT3 exams is “long awaited”.
“Having national exams can help standardise educational outcomes and ensure that students across the country are held to the same academic standards,” he said.
He pointed out that this would also allow schools to gauge their performance and student outcomes, and take remedial steps to improve.
Teachers, he added, can also gauge the effectiveness of their teaching.
