The Malaysian education system is facing some major changes as the education minister just announced that they intend to abolish the mid-year and final year examinations for students in Standard 1, 2 and 3. Yasss!
According to NST, the abolition of these exams is to allow Malaysian schools to focus more on teaching and assisting the students to “discover the joy of learning”.
Education director-general Datuk Dr Amin Senin said that in the place of mid-year and final exams, continuous assessments will be implemented as part of the teaching and learning process through the Classroom-Based Assessment (PBD).
Prior to that, Siakap Keli reported that Dr Maszlee Malik announced on Twitter that examinations for the aforementioned primary school students will be eradicated and replaced with objective assessments in 2019.
Peperiksaan bagi murid Tahap 1 (tahun 1, 2 dan 3) akan dimansuhkan dan akan digantikan dengan pentaksiran yang lebih objektif bermula 2019.
— Maszlee Malik (@maszlee) October 31, 2018
Adding on, Dr Amin explained that comparison and competition between schools are the result of standardised exams. So, he said that emphasis should be given to the students’ character development compared to “exam-oriented learning”.
That said, in order to ensure the students’ character development, schools will be given the “professional autonomy to practise PBD” with the State Education Department and the District Education Office as a guide.
Therefore, PBD will put more attention into fun learning and a student-centred approach. This approach will hopefully build and strengthen the students’ four basics skills (reading, writing, counting and reasoning).
Source: Sinar Harian
He was quoted as saying,
“Pupils will be evaluated continuously with various types of assessments involving knowledge, skills and values that enable parents to recognise their children’s development and identify their strengths and weaknesses.”
“Assessments should not only be restricted to one way only but can be carried out in different ways such as observation, tests, quizzes, homework and even drawings.”
FYI, PBD was introduced in 2011 in primary schools.
Amin added that the parents will receive reports at least twice a year through these continuous assessments. Thus, the reports can be used to know more about their children’s strengths and weaknesses, so they can work on them.
Source: Study Best
On the other hand, Amin reckoned that PBD will eventually close the gap between urban and rural schools in Malaysia. It will also gradually raise the country educations standards. That’s a good thing!
Dr Amin finally said,
“Teachers must make sure that minimum standard of the assessment must be achieved by each pupil. With no examinations, we raise the bar by ensuring students’ grasp of higher order thinking skills individually.”
It looks like the education ministry has been taking some notes from Finland’s education system, which doesn’t focus on exams and homework but, instead, places importance on the intellectual and personal growth of their students.
Do you think the abolition of mid-term and final year exams for Standard 1, 2 and 3 students will enhance our education system? Let us know in the comments below!
Also read: Education Minister: SKPMg2 Audit Suspended Immediately to Reduce Teachers’ Burden
