Muzaffar said the prevailing culture of focusing on examinations along with the obsession of obtaining A’s needs to change. — Penerangan photo
KUCHING (June 2): The government has been called on to replace the existing education system’s examination process with an assessment system that is more appropriate in this modern era.
Dr Muzaffar Syah Mallow said the prevailing culture of focusing on examinations along with the obsession of obtaining A’s needs to change.
The Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia’s Faculty of Syariah and Laws associate professor said students still need to sit for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) although Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Form 3 Assessment (PT3) were abolished in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
“The initiatives taken by the Ministry of Education (MoE) in abolishing the two major examinations is a clear sign that our country is ready to move forward with having assessment for students.
“There are many things our students need to master rather than focusing on theory and academics. In today’s world, students need to learn many survival skills in order to compete in this complex and highly interconnected world,” he said in a statement.
According to him, students should pick up social- and communication-related skills, modern technologies, and critical thinking, which cannot be acquired just in the classroom.
He said these skills cannot be assessed through examinations but students’ capability and ability to master the skills can be assessed.
He opined abolishing the examination process can help reduce the stress level faced by students.
For many years, he said students have been put under pressure to perform and obtain A’s for all subjects during examinations, adding those who could not score A’s may feel that they were not smart enough to succeed.
He pointed out that the mentality and obsession with scoring A’s in order to write success stories ought to be changed.
“There are many examples of people succeeding in life although they were not able to score A’s in their examinations. Furthermore, abolishing the examination process can also help reduce the level of stress among parents,” he said.
Without the examination process, Muzaffar said parents would no longer need to push their children to score A’s and this eventually would prevent unnecessary conflicts between parents and their children.
He also called on parents to stop wasting their time and energy on comparing their children’s academic performance and achievement with those of others.
“The time has come for Malaysians to change their mindset on this issue. Malaysians should not see getting A’s through examinations as the only way to evaluate an individual,” he said.
He suggested that the MoE establish a special committee to study his proposal.
He opined that the proposed committee should comprise experts in the education sector, including teachers and representatives from relevant non-governmental organisations.
“MoE can also do a survey among students in schools over the proposal. The voices of our students must be heard as they are the ones who will be facing all the actions and decisions,” added Muzaffar.
