NUTST questions proposal to abolish UPSR

IPOH: There will be no platform to assess the performance of students if the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR ) is abolished.
National Union of Tamil School Teachers (NUTST) adviser Datuk Shahul Hamid Mydin Shah said the centralised examination is a yardstick to monitor the academic progress of primary school students, and should not be abolished.
He told theSun that the High Order Thinking Skills (HOT), which is a part of the UPSR syllabus this year, resulted in only 1.11% of students obtaining straight As in the examinations.
On the alternative proposal to implement the school based assessment, Shahul Hamid said it could lead to favouritism and other elements of abuse.
"If such an assessment is taken into account. then only 20% of the results should be recorded while the remaining percentage must come from the UPSR," he added.
On Oct 28, Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid suggested that a school-based assessment system should replace the UPSR, similar to a system practised in developed countries.