The government announced yesterday that it is abolishing the UPSR exam for Year Six students.
Speaking to FMT, National Union of the Teaching Profession secretary-general Harry Tan Huat Hock agreed with the move, saying that the public exam only added pressure on students to get good results but neglected “wholesome education”.“UPSR is so skewed towards producing As but neglects wholesome education. The whole system is geared towards achieving academic excellence and nothing else,” he said.
However, he said, other existing school-based assessment instruments such as monthly tests, year-end examinations, course work and quizzes should be continued as they are important for teachers to evaluate the students’ progress.Parent Action Group for Education chairman Noor Azimah Rahim also believed that big examinations caused teachers to heavily focus on preparing students for the test rather than providing quality education to them.
“Continuous assessment throughout the academic year may be more meaningful as is currently being conducted, with school-based assessments at all levels except for form five.”“The more affluent community will take mitigating measures to ensure their children are educated properly. Meanwhile, the B40 community will suffer the most,” she said.
The public education system and parents 'gamed' public exams. When I was a kid, having standard five assessment didn't take us away from learning other things or PE.