The school-based assessment (PBS) system needs to be suspended until several issues can be addressed, said a teacher’s NGO.

NONE In a memorandum addressed to Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday, Persatuan Gerakan Kebangkitan Pendidik Kebangsaan (Pendidik) president Normala Sudirman ( left ) estimated that about 80 percent of teachers do not understand how to implement the system because this was not clearly explained.

Amongst other complaints, she added that increased paperwork that the system entails meant that teachers had to work as late as 3am to key in the necessary data, thus affecting their religious, family and teaching duties.

“It is as if educators throughout Malaysia involved in its implementation are being treated like robots and their right to rest have been robbed,” she said.

She was supposed to hold a press conference at the Parliament lobby on the issue with Batu MP Tian Chua, only to be stopped by Parliament security due to a new rule barring non-parliamentarians from using the building’s media corner.

In addition to the vast amounts of data the teachers needed to handle, Normala complained that internet connectivity was also unreliable.

“For example, the closing date to send assessment marks for secondary schools is Nov 20. Trouble is, how to make the PBS’ execution smooth while time is short and internet connectivity is poor,” she said.

She also noted that People’s Religious Schools (Sekolah Agama Rakyat) were not given the code to execute PBS, and asked if they are being left out of the national education framework.