Education Ministry to give input on Sarawak's proposal to replace UPSR

KUALA LUMPUR - The Education Ministry will give its input to the Sarawak government regarding the proposal to draft its own assessment system to replace the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) for Year Six students in all government schools in the state.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said this is because the proposal is in line with ministry's desire to ensure the holistic assessment and strength of the education system and not just based on examinations.

"We always consider Sarawak as an example among the states that place emphasis on education... If the framework to be developed is aimed at strengthening assessment, we will certainly support it because it is the direction of the Ministry of Education which is holistic development (through) assessment, not examinations," she said.

She told reporters after attending the Palestine Solidarity Week programme at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Dato' Ahmad Razali here today.

Yesterday, the Sarawak state Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister, Datuk Seri Roland Sagah Wee Inn said Sarawak plans to devise its own assessment system to replace the UPSR and that the move is being studied because he believes that the test is the real benchmark to assess student performance.

According to Roland, it is also very important to determine which stream the student should be placed when entering secondary education.

Asked whether the ministry would consider the proposal to be expanded to the entire country, Fadhlina said the view needed to get ministry's input first because it had just been raised.

"We will continue to discuss how it can be coordinated, maybe it just needs to be strengthened at the school and Sarawak state level...The ministry will look at strengthening assessment and there will be input from the Education Ministry.

"With MA63 (Malaysia Agreement 1963) and committee discussions, we will always have a guide to implement any programme strengthening at the state level," she said. - BERNAMA