Amanah wants MOE to review school-based assessment system

Amanah has urged the Education Ministry to review the abolishment of Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Year Three Assessment (PT3) examinations for Standard 6 and Form 3 students.

In a statement, its secretary-general Faiz Fadzil said the party’s central leadership in a meeting last night had discussed suggestions that the two centralised school examinations should be reinstated.

“Amanah took note of the suggestions by many parties including academic scholars, teachers, NGOs and parents who want the government to bring back PT3 and UPSR examinations.

“Thus, Amanah is of the view that the Education Ministry should conduct a thorough study on the existing (assessment) system to ensure that students’ achievement can be assessed more efficiently and holistically,” he said.

In September, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi raised the need to revamp the national education policy, including the lack of centralised exams for Standard 6 and Form 3 students.

However, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek later said there were no plans to bring back the exams.

Instead, she stressed that school-based assessments remained the best option for school students.

She also said recently that among the reasons the ministry decided to abolish the exams was to reduce stress among students.

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