SHAH ALAM, July 19 – The government has not made a decision to abolish the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) although it is seen to be no longer relevant to the country’s dynamic education system, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today.
However, Muhyiddin said, the UPSR could still be used as the basis for evaluation but with some modification to the examination in terms of weightage.
“The weightage could probably be reduced from 100 to 30 or 40 per cent. The others can be considered from the history lesson. So, it won’t deviate much from what is being implemented.
“Transformation will be carried out on the UPSR by including other elements such as history as a yardstick to gauge the students’ performance,” he told reporters after opening the Shah Alam Umno Youth delegates meeting, here.
He said this when asked to comment on the suggestion by Umno Youth vice-head Datuk Razali Ibrahim that the UPSR, which is no longer relevant now, be abolished.
Razali was quoted as saying that the UPSR should be abolished as it did not focus on the students’ achievements in all the subjects.
He said the examination, on the other hand, was being used as a medium of competition for students to enter fully residential schools by focusing only on five subjects.
Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, said the ministry was adopting a new approach in terms of evaluating the students’ performance in a holistic manner through the ‘school-based system’ that was being drawn up by his ministry.
“We want to implement, for example, a system that is not too exam-oriented. We want to see a more balanced approach,” he said, adding that he would consider Razali’s views on the UPSR.
Meanwhile, Muhyiddin expressed his condolences and sympathy to the people of Indonesia and families of the victims who died or were injured in the bombing tragedies at two hotels in Jakarta, namely the Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott, on Friday. – Bernama
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