THE STAR ONLINE
With academic achievement overshadowing all other
aspects of holistic education in Malaysia, it is time to re-assess
our assessment system.
AT some point in their schooling life, every student is likely
to experience some form of centralised exam. Whether as a form of
evaluation, assessment or examination, these paper-based tests are
used to ensure that students of the same level have achieved the
objectives of the education system they are a part of.
In Malaysia, primary school pupils have the Ujian Pencapaian
Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) at the end of Year Six, while secondary
schoolstudents have the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) at
Form Three and the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) or
Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia Vokasional (SPMV) at Form
Five.
With Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri
Muhyiddin Yassin having recently reminded the public that the
Education Ministry is still mulling the possibility of doing away
with the UPSR and PMR (see sidebar), the debate for and against
these exams has stirred up again.
The question StarEducation has posed is: are exams
really necessary for learning?
Learning is not about exams
“There is no evidence that I’m aware of that shows a positive
correlation between exams and learning,” says International Medical
University (IMU) Psychology head Prof Dr Ray Wilks.
“Nowadays, we are talking a lot about authentic learning and
authentic assessment; that is, assessing life-long learning skills,
rather than an end-of-the-year exam,” he explains.
Learning, he believes, should not be about the passing, or not,
of exams.
“Learning should be about the interest that teachers inculcate
into students.”
Although he has only been in Malaysia for two years, Prof Wilks
speaks from his experience as an education psychologist and former
primary school teacher in Australia.
He says: “It’s up to teachers and parents to motivate kids to
enjoy learning, rather than just learning for exams.”
His colleague, Faculty of Medicine and Health deputy executive
dean Prof Dr Peter Pook, agrees.
“We should create more curiosity in our children’s learning to
nurture creative and innovative people.”
He adds: “Continuous assessment is a more reliable way of
looking at the learning process.”
Prof Wilks shares that the educational assessment system in
Australia for primary and secondary schools relies on continuous,
school-based assessment.
“The type of assessment they have looks at broader education
skills, like communication, critical thinking and teamwork, rather
than just textbook skills.
“Those sort of skills are assessed by teachers and through
activities like debates, dramas, analysing issues and project
work.”
He adds that the type of assessment conducted here is consistent
with the type of teaching being done.
“There is an over-emphasis on the academic aspect of children’s
education, which is just one part of holistic education.”
Mother of two Chua Hooi Dean agrees that if there were no public
exams, her children would have more time to explore areas like
music and the arts, which could help instill creativity in
them.
“Abolishing the UPSR and PMR could even mean more opportunities
for parents and children to spend quality time together.
“I’ve always wanted to teach my children to play the piano, but
they are tired most of the time after school,” she says.
One way to reduce emphasis on academic achievement, while still
maintaining public exams, is to lower the weightage given to those
exams.
Father of three Dr Theng L C, who takes that stand, says: “It’s
no harm sitting for an exam.
“However, if the goal is to make the education system more
holistic, there should be more activity-based learning in the
school curriculum.”
When there is less emphasis on exams, he says, teachers would
have more time to organise activities such as field trips and
excursions, which would allow school children to be in contact with
nature and discover new learning opportunities that may not be
present in the classroom.
Father of four Dr Arzmi Yaacob agrees that public exams should
stay, but does not oppose the suggestion of reducing their
weightage.
“It’s like a check and balance.
“The exams will serve as an indicator for students to gauge how
well they have done in schools, and will give students positive
pressure and motivate them to work hard for what they want,” he
says.
However, Form Three student Esmeralda Noor Mohd Junaizee thinks
that school-based assessments are good enough to test students on
their knowledge and skills in the subject areas they study in
school.
“There is competition among the students when we undergo
school-based assessments, so it will still motivate me to study and
work hard,” she says.
“It would definitely take the pressure off the students if the
Government ever decides to abolish the UPSR and PMR,” she adds.
Form Two student Sally Lim agrees.
“I would probably feel more relaxed in school, and have more
time to pursue my interest in drama and performing arts.
“However, I’d still study hard for school based-assessments and
the SPM,” she says.
Chua shares their opinion.
“Children will find going to school and learning even more fun
when there is no pressure of getting good grades in exams like the
UPSR, which many people use to determine if the child is smart or
not,” says Chua.
The bad aspects of exams
Picking up her point, Prof Pook says: “We need to understand
what the UPSR and PMR are doing; they are actually streaming kids
into different classes.
“But in terms of psychology, it is actually bad to label kids
like that.
“It’s positive reinforcement for the smart kids — smart, as is
defined by our assessment system — but not for the kids who don’t
do well.
“The tools that we are using at the moment are picking up all
the rote-learners.”
Adds Prof Wilks: “From a psychological point of view, to label a
child of 12 is kind of a life sentence.
“Experiments show that if you tell a teacher that a child is of
a certain achievement level, they will teach to that level.
“They won’t raise their teaching to the next level for that
child.”
Prof Pook says that it is the negative aspects of the
examination system that worries educationists like himself and Prof
Wilks.
“It’s not just the assessment system and education system that
needs to be changed, we also have to change as we are the ones
driving our kids.
“It will take an enormous change; but when the education system
changes, the method of assessment will also follow suit,” says Prof
Wilks.
“Speaking as a former teacher, I have to say that we do take
comfort in having one set of questions to test students on, and
also, having that threat of a big exam over our students.
“But a written exam shouldn’t be used as a one-fit-for-all. Some
people don’t react well under those type of situations.
“Different forms of assessments should be used throughout the
year, so that all students have an opportunity to show what they
have learnt in situations they perform best in.”
