KUALA LUMPUR: The Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) will be fully abolished from this year, said Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin (pix).
He also said that the Form Three Assessment Examination (PT3) will be cancelled for this year.
Radzi announced the matter during a special press conference here today.
“In line with the abolition of the UPSR, the Primary School Alternative Assessment (PASR) for Special Needs Pupils (MBK) has also been abolished,” he said.
He said that with the abolition of UPSR, the assessment method for Year Six students will be focused on strengthening School-Based Assessment (PBS) starting this year, and for admission to boarding schools for 2022 will be based on Specific Schools Admission Assessment (PKSK).
Radzi said that the decision to abolish the UPSR was made after obtaining views and input through various processes involving more than 1,700 participants, comprising teachers, parents and students as well as unions and associations nationwide, in various sessions held.
He said that among the views obtained from the teachers during the engagement sessions, was that they had to spend a lot of time in school to focus on trying to finish the syllabus as soon as possible, so that UPSR drills could be carried out.
In fact, he said, some teachers related to him how they had to ‘steal’ time from other subjects that did not have specific examinations, to enable the focus to be given to students to prepare for the UPSR, thus reducing the space for teachers to use creativity in delivering lessons in school.
He added that some of the parents shared how the focus on the UPSR, which was considered an important examination, had caused their children to have limited space for other aspects of education, as some were sent to tuition classes as early as Year One.
Radzi said that through meetings with students, most of them saw UPSR as a component to enrol into boarding schools (SBP), but when PKSK was implemented last year for admission to SBP or special schools, only a quarter of all Year Six students last year sat for the examination.
“Hence, we see that if given the choice, not all students want to sit for special examinations to go to boarding schools,” he said, adding that students also face pressure to attend various classes after school hours.
UPSR was first introduced in 1988 with the basic purpose at that time, of 4M (Reading, Writing, Counting and Reasoning).
Regarding PT3, he explained that the main basis for considering cancelling the examination this year was, having taking into account the students’ time to prepare, especially face-to-face schooling following the Covid-19 pandemic.
In this regard, he said that the assessment method for the examination this year was the same as last year, through PBS, which also included the components of Classroom Assessment (PBD), Physical Activity, Sports and Co-curriculum Assessment (PAJSK) and Psychometric Assessment (PPsi).
“PT3 will be cancelled this year but the assessment remains in the national assessment system; this is different from the UPSR, which is fully abolished from 2021,” he said. - Bernama
