PETALING JAYA: The reintroduction of the Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) for Year Six pupils and the Form Three Assessment (PT3) examinations should undergo thorough reviews, said experts.
National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Fouzi Singon said the Education Ministry must consult teachers regarding any change at the policymaking level that directly affects the teaching and learning process.
“Plenty of resources in terms of money, time and effort have been expanded to conduct research, workshops and programmes to introduce a new curriculum based on learning-oriented education as opposed to one that is exam-oriented, which led to the abolition of UPSR and PT3.
“The resources will go to waste if the ministry decides to revert to the former exam-oriented education. If our education system regresses into what it was before, why push for the change in the first place?”
Commenting on the learning culture, Fouzi said the reintroduction of UPSR and PT3 would affect students’ learning behaviour as the accumulation of grade A’s again becomes the main indicator of a students’ educational development.
“Students should be introduced to a fun, stress-free learning culture that will boost their ability to think and solve problems creatively and critically. The previous system that only focused on academic results would only improve their exam-taking skills and not the more important life skills.
“The students are used to doing latih tubi (drills), which benefits tuition centres and exercise book publishers more than the students themselves,” Fouzi told theSun.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Centre of Community Education and Well-being education expert Dr Anuar Ahmad said the abolition of exam-based education in primary schools was a way to create a “healthier” learning culture.
“The learning culture that the ministry wanted to introduce after the abolition of UPSR and PT3 is through fun and meaningful learning.”
Anuar said parents were complaining that their children were more relaxed and spent less time studying after school when the UPSR and PT3 were abolished.
“When the ministry decided to end UPSR and PT3, the intention was to adopt learning-oriented education instead of the stressful and highly competitive exam-based education. And this intention is not being explained in detail to the parents.
“Through learning-oriented education, the motivation to study comes from the students’ curiosity instead of developing motivation because they want to score higher marks or fearing that they might fail.”
Anuar said currently, the measurement used to monitor students’ performance should be maintained with the Academic Session Final Examination and Classroom-Based Assessment, until the tabling of the Malaysia Education Development Plan 2025 (PPPM 2025).
On Aug 8, UPSR and PT3 were abolished from the national education system to ensure that school-based assessments could be implemented effectively, where teachers implement teaching and learning more creatively and innovatively for a more enjoyable learning environment.
On Dec 24, the Education Ministry decided that the reintroduction of UPSR and PT3 would depend on the results of the PPPM 2025 tabling, due in three years.
