New Sunday Times—When the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) results are announced on Tuesday, the focus will be on the achievement of the students and not on the performance of the schools.
This move by the Education Ministry is aimed at taking away the stress on teachers and administrators over their school’s overall performance.
Education Minister Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein said: “We will no longer do comparisons between schools and between the different streaming of schools but concentrate more on individual achievement.
“I hope this will release the stress on teachers and the school administration as there has been too much pressure on them to perform every year.”
He hoped the move, coming after 17 years, would be well received.
Hishammuddin said the move was also part of his goal to make the education process less examination-oriented.
“We are looking to make education more holistic and make the learning process more fun without placing too much focus on exams.”
Hishammuddin, however, said the change in emphasis would not change the examination format as its assessment and other processes remain the same.
He was speaking after presenting gold medals to 67 students from Standard Three to Form Six who won the International Competition for Schools conducted by Educational Assessment Australia (EAA) of the University of New South Wales this year.
Also present were Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia James Wise and EAA director Associate Professor Peter Knapp.
National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) president Ismail Nihat welcomed Hishammuddin’s announcement on making education less exam-oriented.
It was a move NUTP had pushed for, he said.
“It will reduce the stress on teachers and students as they can now enjoy learning about life, not just for exams,” he said.
The president of the Federation of Headmasters’ Council of Malaysia, Awang Mohmad, however, begged to differ on not announcing the names of schools that do well.
“If the schools are no longer assessed, how can they or even parents gauge their performance and effectiveness? The existing system is fine; there is no need to change it,” he said.
Ahmad Azam Latiff, 44, whose daughter, Farah, from Sekolah Kebangsaan Setiawangsa, will receive her UPSR results on Tuesday, supported the move.
“The schools are there to teach and not to compete among themselves.”
Statistician Siti Hawa Sulong, 42, whose daughter is in Sekolah Kebangsaan Setiawangsa, expressed concern that the move would result in teachers not being serious about their job.
“If the pressure is not on them, they might lose their focus and not push students to excel for the glory of the schools,” she said.
By Alang Bendahara