KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — The Education Ministry should exhaust all methods and alternatives before announcing the cancellation of national examinations, Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin suggested today.
Mohamed Khaled said the ministry should introduce a more comprehensive ‘exit strategy’ with creative alternatives, including allowing those sitting for examinations to be prioritised by allowing them to attend school or sit for their tests online.
“We must exhaust all methods and alternatives before we cancel the Standard Six’s Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) and Form Three Assessment (PT3) examinations. We must accept the fact that even though the movement control order will become a norm, learning, assessment and evaluation is also important in an education system.
“It is just that we have to implement them in a different way without cancelling them. In such an unprecedented situation, our solutions must never take the ‘one size fits all’ approach,” he said in a statement here.
The Education Ministry yesterday announced the cancellation of UPSR and PT3, amid the risk posed by the Covid-19 pandemic this year.
It had also announced the postponement of the Malaysian Education Certificate (SPM) and Malaysian Vocational Certificate (SVM) examinations for Form Five students, and Malaysian Higher Education Certificate (STPM) and Malaysian Higher Islamic Religious Certificate (STAM) for Form Six students.
The postponement encompassed all government schools, government-assisted schools, and private schools registered under the ministry.
Mohamed Khaled cited how countries such as Germany, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have decided to continue with reopening schools in stages, with priority given to those sitting for examinations.
He also suggested for the ministry to consider those residing within green zones to be prepped for their scheduled examination sittings while those in the red zones and surrounding areas allowed to postpone their sitting.
“While it is true that almost 40 per cent of students do not have the necessary equipment for online learning, a solution must be provided in preparing this equipment for those sitting for the examination.
“With a comprehensive physical distancing and hygiene plan, those in the green zones are still able to continue with their lessons productively,” he said.
On higher learning education, Mohamed Khaled said any delays imposed on intakes and learning sessions were counterproductive as everything could now be done online.
He also pointed out how foreign and private higher education institutions have shifted to online student registrations, with online lessons for new intakes also resuming in an organised and orderly manner.
Therefore, he said, public higher education institutions (IPTA) and matriculation centres have no excuse to seamlessly resume this year’s intake process and operations online.
“Malaysia must win the war against Covid-19 and through education with various new forms of normalcy is part of that victory,” he said.
