PUTRAJAYA: The decision to abolish examinations for pupils in Years One, Two and Three from next year is aimed at restoring the spirit and principles of the School-Based Assessment system (PBS).
Education Minister, Dr Maszlee Malik, said the original aim of the PBS, which was implemented since 2011, was to evaluate pupils, but not through achievement in examinations.
“Many people were surprised when it was announced that Year One, Two and Three pupils will not be sitting for examinations. PBS was implemented in 2011 but unfortunately, it didn’t achieve its goals.
“The spirit of PBS is gone. Today, teachers are still leaning towards exams as a yardstick for student performance,” he said in a special interview with NSTP at his office here today.
He was commenting on his post in Twitter today about the abolishment of examinations for Year One, Two and Three pupils. He said examinations would be replaced with a more objective assessment from next year.
Elaborating further, Maszlee said that with the abolition of examinations, the ministry hoped that teachers would focus more on identifying potential students through cheerful and fun learning.
“We want students of this level to be happy to learn, and not burdened by exams.
“We will try to train teachers based on the PBS system in order that it has a positive impact,” he said.