.jpg "Primary school students start their new school term at Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Jelutong in Shah Alam January 3, 2016. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Yusof Mat Isa")
PETALING JAYA, Dec 20 ― The Education Ministry’s announcement to scrap mid-year and year-end examinations for primary schoolers until Year Four starting January 2019 could not have delighted teachers and parents more.
National Union of The Teaching Profession (NUTP) president Kamarozaman Abd Razak said examinations are not the only method to evaluate children’s learning ability, especially at such a young age.
“The fun of learning experienced by students is very important in bringing out student’s potential not usually nurtured merely through exams alone,” he told Malay Mail today.
“It is my hope that 2019 will be a cheerful year for teachers and I hope the ministry will allocate more for teachers’ training so that they may be able to perform classroom assessment more effectively,” he added.
Kamarozaman congratulated the ministry for its “bold” move towards more holistic education.
Yesterday, Education director-general Datuk Amin Senin said the ministry was doing away with exams for Primary One to Three to ensure teachers could focus on character building for their young charges.
Chairman of the Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education (Magpie) Mak Chee Kin also commended the Education Ministry, saying parents want a holistic education for their children.
But he was concerned that the ministry may later on reverse its no-exam policy.
“I hope the ministry is serious with this policy and ensure its success; not reverting it after implementation,” he told Malay Mail.
Mak said Magpie’s main concern was whether or not the primary school teachers would be able to properly assess the students’ learning progress without examinations as a benchmark.
“Are our teachers given proper training to do the job? Will they be consistent?” he asked.
