A plan has been unveiled to abolish public examinations (UPSR and PMR) in Malaysia and replace them with a form of standardized assessment developed by the Ministry of Education.

Of course, many Malaysians are concerned by the plan to abolish centralized examinations, which have been a key feature of the education system for as long as anyone can remember.

Examinations, at first glance, appear to provide an equivalent and fair way of helping students guage their educational experience.

The problem is that the guaging and the exams have been misused by teachers, politicians, civil servants, students and parents alike.

What the students are trying to gauge with the benchmark examinations? That they can answer questions successfully? That they can get higher grades than others? That they have the grades to be put in the "smart class" (on the path to success) or the "dumb" class (on the path to failure). That they have more A1s, or straight A1s? That they took excessive papers in order to chase grades?

Where is the connection between the exams and guaging the actual learning that students have accomplished?

Exams are a useful educational tool, but they are only one tool and a good teacher should be able to use many tools. Centralized exams are really only good for grading students. Having high grades does not mean that children been successful in learning the material and the relevant skills.

Grading children and thus labelling them as "smart" and "dumb" is the quickest way to destroy any enthusiasm and value for learning that they might have.

Many Malaysians may also be concerned about potential bias with the assessment system.

I would like to point out that centralized examinations can also be biased. They can be inherently biased against students who do not have the skills (or are never trained in the skills) that are required for an examination, such as study skills, organization skills, and strong memory and recall.

In addition, centralized exams do not effectively test communications or writing skills or critical thinking skills, all of which are vital for the "real world".

Finally, students with learning disabilities, or students who cannot afford excessive amounts of money or time to spend on tuition, will face an unfair disadvantage with the system of centralized examinations.

The fact is that implementing the assessment system will not be easy. For one thing, it will require a major change in Malaysian attitudes towards education. Teachers will to work harder to learn about how to conduct proper assessment.

To conduct assessment properly, and to give the teacher the time to work with the students properly, smaller class sizes (25 maximum) will be necessary.

A switch to assessment will need better, more professional training for better, more professional teachers.

Of course, it will take some time to train the teachers in the assessment techniques and the tools that are required.

That is why I must point out that the dates for the abolition of the UPSR (2012) and PMR (2015) exams are just too soon.

To abolish UPSR in 2012, then Year 1 students from 2007 will have to start learning under the new system immediately.

There will not be enough time to train teachers and educators properly to administer the new system, or for students to understand and grow with the new form of assessment.

Using assessment to replace centralized examinations is an excellent idea, and it should move forward. However, it must be implemented carefully so that it will be successful.

We cannot sacrifice the educational experience of Malaysian children in the attempt to move forward.