Scrapping exams will enable teachers to focus more on character building

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) welcomes the decision to abolish mid-year and final-year examinations for Year One, Two and Three as it will enable teachers to focus more on character building of students.

Describing the move as timely and must be supported by all, MCPF senior vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye in a statement here yesterday said “education is not all about studies and exams”.

“What is crucially important is character building and teaching students noble values, which are lacking among our young generation.

“Based on my observation, the virtues of courtesy, politeness, patience, humility, tolerance and respect have yet to become the way of life among the young, with many school students these days not even prepared to utter the word ‘thank you’ when something is given to them,” he said.

Lee believes that attaining a developed and high-income country status will only be meaningful if the country is able to inculcate a culture of courtesy and noble values among its students instead of producing straight-A students at a young age.

“In this regard, Moral Education should be reinforced to emphasise the importance of learning and practising the 36 noble values in schools.

“What we want to achieve is to inculcate noble values among our children at the early stage so that they will put them into practice in their daily routine and it will help in minimising social ills in this country” he said.

Earlier, Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said the decision to abolish examinations for pupils in Year One, Two and Three from next year was aimed at creating a learning environment that would further help develop the students’ character.

He said the examinations would be replaced with more objective assessments beginning next year that would not burden both the teachers and pupils.