Scrapping of UPSR gets mixed reaction | Free Malaysia Today – Free Malaysia Today

The government announced yesterday that it is abolishing the UPSR exam for Year Six students. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: The decision by Putrajaya to abolish the UPSR has received a mixed reaction from education groups.

Education minister Radzi Jidin, in announcing the scrapping of the exam for Year Six students, said the ministry would introduce an alternative method to evaluate students who are supposed to sit for the two major examinations.

No substitute exams will be held. We will strengthen the current evaluation methods, said Radzi.

Speaking to FMT, National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) 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.

The union has been fighting for the abolition of the national exam for more than five years.

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.

Tan said that as most of resources went to UPSR, other education streams such as music, arts and physical education are often sidelined.

He believed the goal of primary education is the mastery of the basics such as reading, writing and arithmetic, saying: With the mastery of the basics, they should not have a problem advancing to Form One (secondary education).

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 (PAGE) 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.

When there are important public examinations, teachers tend to teach for the test rather than educate, she said.

However, Noor Azimah said evaluation of students must not be abandoned and some other forms of assessment is needed.

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.

However, she admitted that the abolition of UPSR may increase inequality in academic achievement.

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.

Meanwhile, the Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education (Magpie) criticised the last-minute cancellation of UPSR.

What frustrates us the most is: why cant they inform us ahead that they intend to do so? Magpie chairman Mak Chee Kin said.

Mak said the sudden decision would cause stress and confusion to students, teachers and parents.

He said it would also put a heavy burden on teachers to prepare new teaching materials.

Teachers have a very important role to ensure that their students are ready for secondary schools, he said.

The Association of Science, Technology and Innovation (ASTI) shared a similar concern, saying the government should have made the announcement earlier, as it would give teachers more time to prepare.

This is a drastic change and our teachers may not be ready. Some may question if they need to come up with their own assessments now. There is an element of uncertainty, ASTI president Mohamed Yunus Yasin said.

It would be good if they had made this announcement in January. Now, we are well into the second quarter of the year.

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Scrapping of UPSR gets mixed reaction | Free Malaysia Today - Free Malaysia Today