STU seeks clarification over ministry’s plans to scrap exams
KUCHING: Sarawak Teachers' Union (STU) is seeking clarifications from the federal Education Ministry on three urgent matters over its move to scrap examinations for Primary 1 to 3 .
STU president Macky Joseph said without getting answers to these questions the union cannot make any comment on the decision.
He said Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik has to explain what he meant by ‘objective assessment' and how students' performance in school can be communicated to parents and other stakeholders.
“And more importantly, are we - all stakeholders -ready to do away with examinations at Primary 1 to 3?”
The move to replace examinations in Primary 1 to 3 with objective assessment as announced by the Ministry is an initiative towards a less examination-oriented education and STU welcomed the move in principle Macky told The Borneo Post yesterday when asked to respond to the move by the education Ministry.
“At this point in time, however, not much can be said as the details of implementation have not been revealed,” Macky said.
Since the beginning of the new millennium, educational assessment around the world has been undergoing a paradigm shift from an examination culture to an assessment culture, he pointed out.
In Malaysia, the Examination Syndicate (Lembaga Peperiksaan) first unveiled the National Assessment System in 2007 which envisaged a holistic assessment system that includes school-based assessment.
Under the system teachers can evaluate through observation, practical work, project work, centralised examination (for example UPSR), psychometric tests and co-curricular assessment while school-based assessment (Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah) has now been rebranded as classroom assessment (Pentaksiran Bilik Darjah), he added
Teachers are guided by the Dokumen Standard Kurikulum dan Pentaksiran (DSKP) of their respective subjects in their assessment.
“In theory, the National Assessment System is splendid. However, as with any innovation in education, its implementation is not without its share of hiccups, which leave the school administrators, teachers, parents, and students in a state of confusion.”
However, from past experience, he said the teaching fraternity had learnt that the teachers must be prepared for the to implement any changes to the system.
“STU hopes that the Ministry of Education takes into account the readiness of teachers teaching Primary 1 to 3 to conduct ‘objective assessment' on their students.”
It is also important to ensure that parents and students are well-informed about ‘objective assessment' so that they do not question the school administrators and the teachers when their children do not receive end-of semester grades, rankings or awards, he said.