KUALA LUMPUR: With the cancellation of public examinations announced yesterday, parents are making sure that children’s learning still continues during the Movement Control Order (MCO).
A parent of Year Six student, Rosniami Ismail said: “I want my son to keep his momentum in studying because he will still be entering secondary school next year.
"He needs to strengthen his basic understanding in all subjects to advance to Form One, with or without Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR).
“I’m sure the new assessment will include examinations at school level. That is why I am sticking with my original plan to ensure that the learning process does not stop for my son.
“During the MCO, I did my own monitoring of my son’s homework tasked by his teachers via Google Classroom or WhatsApp. I make sure that the homework is properly filed for submission once school is reopened.
“Not much will change, he will still be revising and doing exercises for all subjects, as well as going to home tuition for Mathematics and Science.
"As for Bahasa Melayu and English, he needs to do a lot of exercises for his vocabulary and grammar. I also make sure he reads samples of essays from Berita Harian’s Didik and get him to copy the model answer to improve his writing,” she said.
Another parent, Muhammed Hafiz Abdullah said he was shocked upon the announcement of cancellation of public examinations. Having a 12-year-old son himself, he said this is the time where parents need to step up and do as much to monitor their children’s progress in studying.
“I believe that there is a silver lining behind the situation that we are facing. I am currently working from home hence, it is my responsibility to be involved with my son’s education to ensure that the learning process is on going despite school’s closure and cancellation of UPSR.
“Me and my wife constantly communicate with teachers asking if there is any homework or assessment that my son needs to complete. Then we will allocate time for him to carry out his tasks and provide guidance if needed.
“In our country, we have been talking about abolishing public examinations and moving away from exam-oriented learning.
"Now that the situation calls for it, we are forced to think out of the box and carry on with it. The way I see it, it’s a blessing in disguise,” Muhammed Hafiz commented.
Sekolah Kebangsaan Kampung Tunku headmaster and Science teacher Khairul Anuar Abdul Azid said even though UPSR is called off, that doesn’t mean teaching and learning should stop.
School-based assessments will still be carried out and it is important to keep students motivated, he added.
“The MCO has opened up opportunities for teachers and students to discover various learning platforms. I utilised Google Forms application in coming out with quizzes. It is convenient to organise and analyse the answers submitted by students using the application’s features. I can easily identify which areas need improvements.
“The quiz could be one of the alternative assessments, since there will be no UPSR.
“Parents have mixed feelings about the news. I could say that most of them are on board with the way we are carrying out our lessons now. Online learning is currently taking place without major disruptions.”
He added that all 84 teachers in the school are committed to ensuring that students are not left behind in their studies during the MCO.
Yesterday, Education Ministry announced the cancellation of Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) for Year 6 pupils and Pentaksiran Tingkatan Tiga (PT3) for Form 3 students for this year.