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Politicians and educators opt to keep UPSR/PMR
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Wednesday, 28 July 2010 05:33
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PUTRAJAYA – Several politicians and educators, who participated in the second round-table discussion on the proposal to abolish the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examinations, are keen to retain both the examinations but with several improvements.
A former director-general of education, Dr Abdul Rahman Arshad, said all the views presented at Tuesday's discussion were very good, some had agreed on the abolition while some felt that they should be retained but with some improvements.
"There were also those who wanted the UPSR to be abolished while retaining the PMR, and there were those who felt otherwise," he said when met by reporters here.
Quality of teachers paramount
Dr Abdul Rahman said many representatives had also felt that whatever changes or abolition that would be carried out, the emphasis must be on the quality of the teachers.
"There were also suggestions that technical skills be introduced immediately after the UPSR, don't wait too long because introducing it after Form Four will be too short a time," he said.
Professor Emeritus Isahak Haron from the Faculty of Education and Human Development, Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris (UPSI) said there was no need to abolish both the examinations, but the approach and their functions must be amended because the current functions were more exam-oriented.
"Retain the UPSR and PMR based on the existing reference-norm approach and retain the educational functions in schools such as education and exams for selection as is the current practice," he said.
Diversified participation
Isahak, who is also a "resource person" for the Malay Consultative Council, also suggested that the UPSR and PMR be retained as a public examination but its evaluation must be on the "standard-based assessment" to ensure that the quality of education in the country was maintained.
The second round-table discussion was chaired by Education Director-General Alimuddin Mohd Dom, and participated by 75 people including politicians, educational figures, student leaders, representatives of non-governmental organisations, representatives from the office of the deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, Education Ministry senior officers, journalists and representatives from the book industry.
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 July 2010 11:43 |
