Sagah: Standardised assessments for Sarawak’s Primary 6 pupils from 2025, Form 3 by 2028
KUCHING: The Ministry of Education, Innovation and Talent Development has drawn a comprehensive plan to carry out standardised assessments for Primary 6 pupils beginning 2025 and Form 3 students by 2028.
Its minister Dato Sri Roland Sagah Wee Inn said the planned assessments will only involve English, Mathematics, and Science subjects, which are taught in English under the Sarawak’s Dual Language Programme (DLP).
“The first cohort of 2020 will sit for the assessment in 2025,” he said in his ministerial windingup speech yesterday.
To ensure the quality and standard of assessment, he said his ministry is now in a series of discussions with an international accredited assessment provider, which is due to be concluded soon.
He thanked the Ministry of Education (MoE) for giving approval in principle and offering the necessary cooperation and support in Sarawak’s plan to carry out the standardised assessments.
He said this was also in tandem with World Bank recommendations to implement an assessment system that aligns local instruments and grading with international standards.
“The findings by the World Bank reinforce our concerns on the state of education, specifically in Sarawak.
“We can’t agree more that all the recommendations by the World Bank in the report are fundamental in our endeavour to achieving quality education in Sarawak,” he said.
Sagah also touched on the MoE’s School Based Assessment, which had replaced the standardised assessment system Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) at Primary 6 and Form 3 Assessment (PT3).
“I am not an education expert, but the MoE’s approach to assessment by emulating some Scandinavian countries does not work well in our circumstances, for now.
“We are plagued by the insufficient number and the sorry state of our educational infrastructure and facilities, shortage of teachers in the corresponding subject matter options, inadequate teachers’ professional development opportunities, and a host of other issues,” he said.
He said an effective School Based Assessment required improvement in the overall education ecosystem such as teachers, including professional development, infrastructure, facilities, tools and equipment, connectivity, and curriculum.
“I have, and so have many of us here, gone through a series of robust standardised assessments and examinations during our school days.
“It worked well and, maybe, when the time is right with considerable achievement in development, say, ample teachers’ professional development opportunities, the School Based Assessment may be implemented,” said Sagah.
The MoE scrapped the UPSR in 2021, while the PT3 was abolished the following year.