Thursday, July 1, 2010

Ura-ura Mansuh Pereksa


Antara isu hangat yang menjadi tajuk perbahasan ramai buat masa kini ialah ura-ura Kerajaan hendak memansuhkan peperiksaan Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR).

Bagi golongan wargamas seperti saya, both these exams lebih kurang sama dengan Peperiksaan Darjah Enam dan Sijil Rendah Pelajaran (LCE) zaman saya budak-budak dulu.

Perbezaan yang ketara antara dulu dengan sekarang ialah lepasan darjah enam dan tingkatan tiga zaman itu dah cekap membaca, menulis, mengira dan menguasai kedua-dua Bahasa Melayu dan Bahasa Inggeris.

Budak kampung macam saya, yang menuntut di sekolah rendah kebangsaan tetapi nak sambung pelajaran di sekolah menengah Inggeris (because Tok Ayah said English was 'the way to go in life'), kena masuk kelas peralihan (Remove Class) dulu.

Di situlah minda kami dipahat, dibentuk dan diuli secukupnya dengan segenap liku pembelajaran Bahasa Inggeris selama satu tahun. To a certain degree, kepada Remove Class I owe my love for and eventual proficiency in the English language.

Exams? Peperiksaan kepada kami merupakan part and parcel of schooling. Apa guna belajar kalau takder peperiksaan untuk menilai tahap kecekapan dan penerimaan kita?

Exam tu lebih kurang macam audit syarikat. Setiap tahun perniagaan mesti di audit untuk tahu untung rugi dan sebagainya, sama ada nak tambah pelaburan ker, nak gulung tikar ker pada tahun-tahun seterusnya.

Exam tu satu penapis sebenarnya. Setelah enam tahun di sekolah rendah kita ditapis untuk mengetahui sejauh mana penghayatan kita dalam pembelajaran. Only then we know whether kita ni dah berjaya di isi atau penuh dengan hampas saja.

Sepanjang ingatan saya, kami tak takut exam. Mungkin sedikit cuak nak mengadap exam, itu aja. Lagipun, hidup kami tidak complicated; no TV, no internet, no computer games, no playstation, no handphone, no shopping malls.

Jadi kami ada banyak masa untuk belajar. Hidup kami cuma revolve around sekolah, mengaji, games with friends, the occasional trips to panggung wayang.

Sukatan co-curriculum pun taklah extensive macam sekarang; hanya setakat pengakap, pandu puteri, St Johns Ambulance, Red Cross (sekarang dah jadi Red Crescent), sporting activities and the usual school clubs.

Perasaan kami terhadap exam masa tu samalah seperti budak-budak lelaki 'seriau' nak duduk atas batang pisang mengadap mudim. Like it or not, 'potong' tu mesti. Exam pun macam tu; you just had to face it. No excuses.

My personal opinion is; kalau nak mansuhkan exam, retain peperiksaan darjah enam but do away with the form three exam. Dua exams pun cukup, satu di penghujung sekolah rendah dan satu lagi to conclude pembelajaran di sekolah menengah, untuk menilai pencapaian pelajar.

Another thing is, HSC/STPM tu sebenarnya macam tunggul yang tak berfungsi. Mansuhkan aja Tingkatan Enam. It's so redundant in the context of today's education structure, a two-year waste of time and resources. Selarikan education system kita.

Sebaik-baiknya pelajar lepasan tingkatan lima hanya ada dua pilihan iaitu vocational or matriculation dan kelas matrikulasi itu sepatutnya menggantikan Sixth Form.

Vocational bermaksud sambung belajar di tahap sijil/diploma ke arah kerjaya pilihan dan kemudian sambung ke peringkat ijazah (dan seterusnya), manakala those yang opt for matriculation will spend a year or two before taking the university entrance exam.

Ideally, I would suggest the exam structure be standardised and streamlined to maintain only the following:

Primary Education
Peperiksaan Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (di Darjah 6)

Secondary Education
Peperiksaan Penilaian Sekolah Menengah (di Tingkatan 5)

Post-Secondary / Tertiary Education
1. Matriculation > Degree etc
2. Certificate/Diploma > Degree > etc

Sistem yang kita amal sekarang kita warisi daripada penjajah. The onus, however, is on us untuk adopt apa yang kita rasa baik untuk pembangunan diri dan negara kita, dan tinggalkan apa yang kita rasa tidak sesuai.

PS: Ini satu yang menghairankan saya. Zaman dulu takder any form of formal pre-schooling whatsoever. Masuk darjah satu baru nak belajar ABC dan sebagainya. Tapi budak-budak excel jugak. Today's kids ada one or two years' headstart (read tadika) sebelum mula bersekolah, tapi masih ada yang tak cekap 3R. How so?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kak Putri

Kes bag sekolah berat sangat membebankan murid2 sekolah d negara kita.Anak i dah 3 kali setakat tahun ni tukar bag baru!Dulu awal tujuhpulohan bag sekolah i boleh guna 3 hingga 4 tahun lama.Buku teks sekolah la ni tebal2 belaka.Peperiksaan yg d cadangkan kak tu bagus juga.
....wawa

Derebar said...

Madam,

All forms of examination are life threatening and they should all be banned.

In its place students should have the liberty to submit their own sets of questions on the subject matter and have them answer these questions during the designated examination day. This way the students will be compelled to grasp the subject matter on their own free will and like it or not they will be assessed on the quality of the questions that they have asked themselves to answer. (Get what I mean?)

And I say it again, examination should be wiped off from the face of this earth. The only Examination is the one reserved when one meets the Maker.

Bustaman said...

Di Malaysia ni, nak mansuh apa=apa pun boleh tapi yang pentingnya murid murid kita patut menguasai 3R (atau 3M kala nak cakap BM)terlebih dahulu.
Testing & Evaluation ialah sebahagian daripada sistem pelajaran mana-mana negara. Tetapi bila peperiksaan membuahkan murid-murid yang macam robot/burung kakaktua dan tidak diajar berfikir dan menilai maka tumpuan kepada peperiksaan itu wajib difikirkan semula.

NanaDJ said...

Puteri,
The poor primary school children have exams every one and a half months or so under fanciful name like diagnostic and formatif. Those who are able to score high marks are normally those who practice answering questions from all the workbooks sold at the bookshops. Thats why some can't even string simple sentences. When they get to secondary schools they will score 10 A's or more in their SPM but that does not mean anything either.
Recently we went through 46 CVs while trying to find a Communication Executive, none fit the bill despite all having degrees or diplomas. Their application letters gave them away.
I don't know what to say any more, and once I was an educationist but my ex pupils are doing well, you know some of them (ex STFians).

Wan Sharif said...

Ha ha ha...
"samalah seperti budak-budak lelaki 'seriau' nak mengadap mudim atas batang pisang"
Well, I remembered very well. a young boy who went on a small sampan rowing furiously to the Kuala Terngganu river just to avoid from mengadap mudim..
On a more serious note, some may think that form three exam is necessary to allow streaming of science and art or commerce students.
It is also noteworthy that form four, to some of us warga emas, presented an avenue to go to other better or specific school such as RMC. technical colleges etc.
Have a good weekend...

Anonymous said...

Salam Puan Kama,

1- Seriau ? MANA ADA !! Kecut je...

2- Dari sok sek yang saya dengar dari mulut beberapa pendidik, sebenarnya pemansuhan Ujian2 bukan kerana kerajaan perihatin sangat ngan pendidikan tapi lebih kepada nak jimat kos mengendalikannya.

Seriouslyla, since when kerajaan really, honestly implement something 100% wholeheartedly with rakyat in mind ??

3- For the sake of discussion, why not exam the kids all the way ! hahahaha...have exams for all levels tahun1 - tahun6, Tingkatan1-Tkt5. U no pass, u stay. U pass then only u go up one level. We can start with BM first.

Barulah dijamin generasi akan datang semuanya fasih berbahasa kebangsaan !Yang masih pelat2, meraba cari ayat, biarlah mereka di tahun3 atau 4 biarpun umur dah 20. Baru betul ikut merit !

Anonymous said...

Hi Kama, you are spot on. Kalu takdok exam you tengoklah macamana keaddan pelajaran dan pembelajaran. Bukang saje murid relaks guru-guru(with due respect to some)apa lagi? Doh pernoh mengajar dekat 30 tahung tahulah macamana kalu takdok exam. Kami guru-guru dunggu (ni gelaran daripada guru-guru yang tidak terlibat dalam public exam)bertungkus lumus untuk menjamin kejayaan murid dan sekolah. Pagi petang, cuti sekolah dan kadang-kadang public holiday beri free tuition pada murid yang akan menduduki exam. Akhirnya puashatilah kalu yang kurang dalam serba-serbi dapat mencapai kejayaan
To me public exam is a must to ensure that every child including the weak strives to achieve something. Kalu takdok exam semua leka.

Ambe rasekang orang yang nak do away with exams are those who still fear exams as maybe dulu-dulu orang ni malas and em em em. Nok kata bodoh ada position pulak tu. I think ada juga yang masih mimpi ngeri tang exam. Wakaka

Anonymous said...

To Anon 11.50 A.M.

Your last para is rather unkind.

Bill Gates hates exams. And I presume you know where he is now.

Locally, Tan Sri Mokhtar Al Bukhary HATES exams to the pits. And I presume you would also know where he is now.

Then there are Einstein, Thomas Edison, Pierre Curie who were all examined differently from their schoolmates during their times.

Even Lee Kuan Yew is being handled differently for being an examination hater.

Remember billionaire Walton. He quit school simply because he can't stand examination.

Conventional examinations may be ideal to the majority (like you) but there is a vast minority who can do without and yet come out tops.

And wakaka to you too.

D said...

It's a shame that the education system in our country today evolves around politics.

What you recommend is not a bad idea because I too believe that exams are essential as a mode of evaluation that can be used as a qualification.

ninotaziz said...

Dear Kak Kama,

Thank you for bringing this up. I just fear the truth. Could it be possible that for decades we have had no overall long term planning for the development of education in our country?

Every now and then, an adhoc policy [some good, some bad]illicits public debate [for the sake of debate?]

Look east
Bahasa baku
One school one computer
Math and Science in English
Math and Science in Bahasa
One child one sport
Sekolah bistari
National School
No more scholarships, study local
Abolish UPSR
Abolish PMR

Lagi?

Anonymous said...

perkara nk mansuh exam ni dh lama.. i attended a course back in 2007 or 2008 where officers from MPM (Majlis Peperiksaan Malaysia)told us that UPSR and PMR will eventually be abolished and a new system of testing and evaluation will be implemented. it will be more to school-based evaluation where schools are given the responsibility to design their own test tailored to their students ability. i believe if this is properly planned and implemented, the benefits will go to the students. teachers will have to work harder because the success of their school depends solely on them, 'they test what they teach!'

guru kecik sajer...

ninotaziz said...

BTW Kak Kama, I would like to ask your permission to place a link to Ura-ura Mansuh Pereksa in my upcoming post. Is that ok?

And my comments on the matter.

Sleep tight, night night...

Kama At-Tarawis said...

wawa - kesian anak2 sekarang, saya tengok ada yg heret bag with wheels pi sekolah. apa yg banyak sangat kena angkut tu? when I started school in 1961, bawak papan 'slate' satu dan kalam batu satu pi sekolah... ancientnya saya!

derebar - I know where you are coming from tapi I beg to differ. I am all for exam as a means to measure students' performance.

Pok Ku - ditto that. Bila Pok Ku mention parroting, I am reminded of our daily 'recitation' of the multiplication table masa darjah satu. it is so effective sampai sekarang saya buleh recall sifir 2 sampai sifir 12.

Nana - i used to face this situation as a journalist givne the task of 'holding the hands' of new reporters. sakit jiwa dibuatnya, their english really suck.

Wan - ooo, u cuba nak elak kena sunat ya? LOL. I beg to differ here, Wan. I am so against streaming midway through school. their orientation and interest should be gauged as they progress, bukannya berdasarkan peperiksaan.

Din - hehehe.. bukan seriau lagi tuh, takut teruh! if u exam the kids every step of the way, matilah cikgu! sekarang pun teachers are overburdened with all kinds of tasks yg takder kena mengena dengan teaching.

Anon 11.50 & Anon 4.20 - good to see differing viewpoints. wakaka to both of you... :P

D - well said. then again, under the current clime, we'd be lucky kalau ada issue yg tak dipolitikkan...

Ninot - by all means dear.. silakan.

Cikgu kecik - as usual, dok dingdong dingdong bertahun2. let's hope ianya menjadi kenyataan ..