The Education Ministry today announced that the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) for Standard 6 students will be abolished.

In a press conference, Education Minister Radzi Jidin also said that the Form Three Assessment (PT3) will be cancelled for this year.

According to Radzi, the ministry will introduce an alternative method to evaluate students who were set to sit for the two major examinations. Instead, current classroom-based assessment (PBD) methods would be strengthened, he said.

"The decision to abolish UPSR was taken after engagement sessions with the relevant stakeholders, including teachers, parents and students," he said.

"For PT3, the decision to cancel the examination this year was taken after taking into consideration the students' preparation for face-to-face learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic," Radzi added.

Radzi recently revealed that all schools nationwide will return to the home-based teaching and learning method (PdPR) for two weeks after the Hari Raya Aidilftri school holidays next month, to avoid the risk of COVID-19 infections in schools after the school holidays.

The directive will apply from May 16 to 27 for schools in Group A (in Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu), and May 17 to 28 for those in group B (the remaining states).

The school holidays to celebrate Aidilfitri are scheduled from May 7 to 15 for schools in group A, while it is from May 8 to 16 in group B.

After this holidays, students will follow the PdPR method, until the schooling sessions breaks again for the term holidays from May 28 to June 12 for group A schools, and May 29 to June 13 for group B schools.

This means that students will not have to observe the face-to-face learning method for more than a month, from mid-May to the middle of June.


Source: NST, Free Malaysia Today
Photo source: Bernama