THE Education Ministry has abolished the Form Three Assessment (PT3) examination from this year.
This has been accepted positively by stakeholders, who view the move as a step to more quality-oriented teaching and learning in schools.
Indeed, for a long time, the most visible assessments in schools have been summative, which aims to measure what students have learnt after a certain period of learning.
International summative assessments, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), have also become popular as it provides comparative data between countries.
However, a key weakness in centralised summative assessment is that it cannot determine clearly whether students have met required standards as stipulated in the learning outcomes of the curriculum or syllabus, and what are the gaps in their learning.
Hence, you may have a student who has completed Sijil Pelajaran Malaysian (SPM) with a distinction in English but cannot converse in the language.
Educators must take heed that formative assessment is significant only when the approaches and techniques for classroom-based assessments can cater for a diverse student demography, like in schools. The results from these assessments must be informative for differentiated pedagogy to achieve greater equity in student outcomes.
Assessment research has indicated that school-based evaluation is favourable as teachers are at the centre of the assessment process, and it can incorporate localised content and knowledge.
For Malaysia to benefit from this new direction, we must ensure systemic, and school and classroom approaches to assessment and evaluation are put in place.
This will require the establishment of a strong school culture that promotes a diverse set of assessments, has mechanism to provide clear and transparent feedback on student performance, and involves students active in the learning process.
The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in new approaches in teaching and learning, with alternate assessment being developed as well.
Simultaneously, it is vital that school leaders take cognisance of the experience garnered over the past two years and support the policy with a commitment to ensure the intended outcomes from the abolishment of PT3 is achieved.
So, ensure students are supported in classroom-based assessments with a positive environment in place.
There must also be channels of communication for students and parents to provide feedback about their learning.
The emphasis on formative assessments augurs well for pre-university education, as classroom-based assessments mimic the assessment requirement in pre-university education, where one of the goals is to develop students' study skills, and critical and creative thinking skills.
I am also optimistic that de-centralised assessments will enable students to discover their passion and interest, help them journey on a path based on their ambitions and goals in life and, when entering pre-university, determine the programme that suits their abilities and capabilities.
Nevertheless, SPM remains a critical variable as it would function as the reference point for entry into tertiary education institutions and the basis for decisions on scholarships.
But SPM must have a better coverage in terms of what is tested.
Other than factual knowledge, conceptual understanding, creativity, reasoning problem-solving and application skills must be given importance.
In its current form, it has been observed that the "teach for the test" syndrome is prevalent.
A systematic revamp of the SPM examination is likely to lead to a positive effect in classroom pedagogy.
The bottom line for us is to make the policy and attendant expectations work for Malaysia's education landscape.
When Finland first implemented the no-exam concept, it encountered many challenges.
However, after years of learning and improvements, it has consistently been not only one of the top achievers but one of the countries with exceptional educational equity as well.
Learning from that, our policymakers must keep in mind that any educational reform requires a strong and consistent policy.
And the quality of pre-service teacher training must be boosted. More in-service training is also expected to ensure this policy succeeds.
More importantly, the Education Ministry should work to establish better working conditions for the people that matter the most: teachers.
The writer is head of school, School of Pre-University Studies, Taylor's College