Lack of info on Form 3 exam casts doubt on Education Ministry’s credibility, says DAP
The Education Ministry has yet to properly explain how Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3 (PT3) will replace the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examination for Form 3 students across the country, said DAP, raising questions over how far the ministry can be trusted.
"How seriously can we take the ‘achievements’ outlined in the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013 annual report when the ministry cannot even explain how PT3 will replace PMR starting this year?" asked Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming today.
The annual report, released on June 17, documented encouraging achievement in four initiatives under the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2014-2025.
"Unfortunately, it is hard to take these achievements seriously when the ministry cannot seem to get its act together on the much more fundamental issue of PT3," said Ong in a statement today.
He said that checks on the examination board's website (www.moe.gov.my/lp) and an alternative website (www.lp.edu.my) for information on PT3 since last Thursday only yielded an error message.
This was despite Education Minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh's claim on June 18 that two circulars the ministry had issued to explain PT3 had been uploaded on the website.
Ong said a circular the Education Ministry issued on March 3, 2014 had outlined in detail how PT3 would replace PMR.
According to the circular, central exams would be abolished this year, to be replaced by school-based exams that would be based on instruments and scores standardised by the Examination Board.
"The implementation guidelines of PT3 are supposed to be spelled out in detail on the website of the Examinations Board," said Ong.
"But almost three months after the issuance of this circular and after the minister referred to the Examinations Board’s website in his parliamentary reply, neither the guidelines nor the website is accessible."
He said uncertainty over PT3's implementation had prompted the National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Lok Yim Pheng to ask the Examinations Board to brief teachers on it.
"If the teachers themselves have concerns over the implementation of PT3, I can only imagine how much more in the dark are parents with children in Form 3," said Ong.
"In a survey of low-income families conducted by the Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), one of the main findings was the information gap between government plans and the information received by the poor.
"This information gap would include plans to replace PMR with PT3 despite assurances by the minister that representatives from all parent-teacher associations nationwide would be briefed on these changes." – June 23, 2014.
