Earlier this year, Standard 6 students all over Malaysia sat for their Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examinations and results are expected to be out tomorrow (23rd November).
However, students will be getting something a little different when they receive their results, according to Education director-general Datuk Dr Amin Senin.
The director-general stated that along with exam results, there will also be three non-academic components included. These components are;
- Sports, physical and co-curriculum activities assessment
- Classroom assessment
- Psychometric assessment
Although these components were introduced in 2011, they were only finalised this year. So, students who sat for UPSR this year can expect to receive a total of four reports for fully residential schools to consider.
“This is a holistic and meaningful report for Year Six students,” Datuk Amin stated in a briefing at the ministry, according to the New Straits Times.
He elaborated that for the sports, physical and co-curriculum activities assessment, students’ fitness levels, body mass index, participation in sports and co-curriculum, along with extra curricular activities would be evaluated.
The classroom assessment looks at learning ability using various instruments.
For the psychometric assessment component, students’ psychological traits, their innate and acquired abilities in areas like music, linguistics, naturalist learnings, mathematical logic, and kinesthetic are evaluated.
As for special needs students, they will receive the Primary School Alternative Assessment Report instead of UPSR along with the three other assessment reports.
On top of that, Datuk Amin said the Ministry of Education will no longer be comparing UPSR achievements between states and schools, stating,
“It is no longer about how many A’s the students secure, but the emphasis is on how they do in other areas, especially on character building and instilling values as well as creating fun learning (in schools).”
“We will do away with school average grades and subject average grades as they place pressure on schools, teachers, and students to excel solely on academics. It is about time Malaysians did away with the exam-oriented mentality.”
What do you think of this change? Is it more beneficial to primary school students? Let us know in the comments below!
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