453,413 form three students sit for PT3

KUALA LUMPUR: The first batch of 453,413 form three students including private candidates sat for their Form Three Assessment (PT3) written tests for the Bahasa Melayu and Mathematics papers.
Director-General of Education, Datuk Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof today went to Sekolah Menengah Utama at Jalan Ipoh to do a spot check on the students taking their written test. The PT3 exam will go on until Oct 16.
Throughout the week, students will also sit for the English, Science, Islamic Studies, Living Skills, Arabic, Chinese, Tamil, Iban and Kadazandusun language subjects.
The Malaysian Examination Board in a statement said unlike the PMR exam, the PT3 examination papers were prepared by the respective secondary schools with the responsibility lying in the hands of the school heads. However, the Malaysian Examination Board and state education department will be the moderator to ensure the candidates validity and reliability scores.
The written tests are the final phase of the PT3 exams, which replace the previous test named centralised Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR).
Case studies for History and Geography, as well as oral tests for Bahasa Malaysia and English are among the subjects included in the three part of PT3 which were conducted in July and August respectively.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Education Minister has previously said that the PT3 would enable teachers to identify their students' weaknesses in any subjects earlier and help them improve.
When reporters asked Khair on the SPM and STPM examinations, especially on whether the results will be out early or forecast results can be used to apply to universities, he refused to comment accept to say that forecast results cannot be used as reported earlier.