KUCHING: Putrajaya must expedite devolution of the education autonomy to Sarawak to allow the state to have its own Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR)-like assessment examination for Year 6 students in government schools.
Datuk Jonathan Chai, president of the Association of the Boards of Management of Aided Primary Schools in Kuching, Samarahan and Serian said as education is still under the purview of the federal government, Sarawak can only have its own assessment if the education autonomy or power is devolved to Sarawak.
Otherwise, he opined that the Education Ministry can also grant special exemption for Sarawak to conduct its UPSR-like assessment; pending devolution of the autonomy.
“On that note, I think it’s timely for us to regain our autonomy in education from Putrajaya as we know best what are the right values and syllabus for our future generations,” he said.
Speaking to New Sarawak Tribune today (Nov 2), Chai said the plan to have Sarawak’s own assessment for Year 6 students would be necessary to know the students’ standards, especially the gap between the rural and urban students.
Without any public examination, he said, no one can actually have any idea whether the students are up to the par as the accuracy of the current classroom-based assessment depends very much upon the objectivity and professionalism of the teachers concerned.
“A formal assessment which is applicable to all students would help to give a better guide in assessing their standard at the end of the primary education before they move on to the secondary education.”
Having said that, he said, it would be worthwhile to undertake a comprehensive study involving all stakeholders in particular teachers before embarking on any change in the policy.
Apart from that, he said, the Education Ministry should also conduct a thorough review on the outcome and effects following the abolishment of UPSR in 2021.
Based on the feedback gathered from quite a number of the headmasters and headmistresses and also the parents, Chai said, they have voiced their concerns of lacking a formal and better structured assessment to assess the standards of the students after UPSR was abolished.
“The move to remove UPSR was noble, and doing away with exams seems like a global trend, but I think some found that it had its shortcomings after the policy had been implemented for two years.
“Apart from having the conducive environment for carrying out the classroom assessment, the objectivity and professionalism of the teachers concerned are also issues.
“I spoke to a principal of a primary school from Singapore In his recent visit to Kuching, he also opined that it’s important to have some kind of public assessments to determine the standards of the students before they move on to their secondary schools.”
On Tuesday, Sarawak Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister, Datuk Seri Roland Sagah Wee Inn said Sarawak is working to create its own assessment examination for Year 6 students in government schools.
He said this aimed at providing them with the necessary guidance to make well-informed choices between science and arts streams as they progress to secondary school.
Sarawak, he said, will make efforts to have its own assessment system. “This is because we believe that is the only way for us to know our pupils’ true performance.”
