New assessment scheme gets thumbs up
KUALA LUMPUR: Year Six pupils yesterday received the Primary School Assessment Report (PSAR), which aims to bring out the best of their abilities when they start secondary school.
Many saw the new method as a positive move towards developing children using the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) results along with their physical, classroom and psychometric assessments.
In Kangar, Adlishah Iskandar Sharilfudin, who was one of SK Indera’s 124 UPSR candidates, did not score straight As ,but he was not in despair.
Adlishah, who represented the state in football and rugby, excelled in the co-curriculum and sports assessment.
“It was a big relief for me,” he said,
His father, Sharilfuddin Saari, 43, said PSAR was much fairer as pupils were not being judged on academic performance alone.
“All this while, pupils, teachers and parents were too focused on the examination-oriented system and this is not healthy, especially for children.”
In Kuantan, mother-of-three Yanti Mohd Yassin said the new system would allow pupils to “shine in their own way”, be it in academics, sports or extra curricular activities.
“They can showcase their nonacademic capabilities, such as in public speaking and football,” said Yanti at SK Tunku Azizah, Bandar Indera Mahkota where her daughter, Herdina Yasmin, collected her report.
The new report had received positive response from Netizens, who believe it will pave the way for a fair assessment of children’s capabilities.
Facebook user Azura Hamzah said children had the potential to be “somebody” instead of being ostracised for not acing exams.
“Some do not even have their parents’ support to take part in football or choir, for instance, fearing that they might fail their exams.
“The time has come for us to acknowledge the importance of co-curricular activities just as much as we value academic excellence.”
Another social media user, Leonard Teh, lauded PSAR, saying that it was a good start for a better education system.
“The next step is for the ministry is to align the evaluation outcome with teaching methods and curriculum to maximise the transformation.”