Parents want resit of leaked UPSR papers scrapped

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KOTA KINABALU: Parents here want the Education Ministry to scrap plans to have Standard Six pupils retake the leaked Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) papers, saying it was unfair to make the children pay for the fault of a few irresponsible adults.

The Education Bureau of SRK Sacred Heart Parents and Teachers Association in making the call, said it was unfair to subject the students to the pressure of the physically and mentally demanding tests again, and suggested the ministry to just use the UPSR exam trial results for the leaked papers.

“With all the bad news our pupils are receiving on leaks of these papers and the resit of three major
papers, some positive news now might help relieve the pressure, tension and stress on our kids. After all, the results from the UPSR trial could always be used, but please no more further exams for these 12-year olds,” said the school’s PTA chairman, Simon Linus Madan.

Linus in a statement here yesterday, said the association expressed outrage over the leakage of the UPSR English, Science and Maths papers as the incident had caused duress to more than 120 of its pupils, and their parents.

The leaks meant the examination will stretch until Oct 9, instead of ending on Sept 11 when the last paper was supposedly concluded.

The week-long school holidays, which ended on Sunday, have now become an even more harrowing time for the pupils who are dreading to resit their exams, following the latest discovery on the Maths paper leak.

“Teachers have also done so much to ensure that the pupils are prepared physically, emotionally,
psychologically, mentally and spiritually. In the case of our school, we have the “doa restu” for pupils of all faiths prior to the exam. For teachers teaching the UPSR students this year, this is an embarrassment and a slap in the face for their pupils who had worked so hard for the past year

“The school has to deal with upset kids. All the pupils’ hard work now down the drain. They are tired, stressed out and rightfully should not be the victims of someone else’s irresponsible and selfish behaviour,” argued Linus.

He stressed that the PTA’s first thought was of the young students – how stressed they must have been preparing for their first public exam.

Unnecessary tension and traumatized experience had been caused and may result in prolong silent suffering among the innocent pupils and parents, he cautioned.

“They must have been looking forward to their long-awaited holidays to unwind after the exams, only to be told that they have to resit the papers. How do you expect them to feel, not to mention their parents and teachers?” added Linus.

Wasting the remaining of the schooling year on retaking exams, he added, would be counter productive for the pupils as well as their parents, as far as changing the mindset of the community that schooling was all about exams is concerned.

He said some parents unfortunately do think that schooling was about exams and that once exams were over, their kids do not need to see the term out.

The PTA of SRK Scared Heart, he said, had been trying to change such mindset by devising post-UPSR programmes that are filled with more fun, games and field trips.

“As one parent had lamented, he was mentally prepared for the test but now with the resitting of the papers, he was skeptical that he (his child) would be in the right mood. How do we prepare a 12-year-old to give his best again after reaching the right peak earlier this month?

“Even the best athlete in the world, like Usain Bolt, would tell you that to do a record breaking result, you have to be in the right frame of mind, at the right time and at the right situation. It is truly a difficult position to prepare oneself for another best performance,” he said.

Many were shocked, although to some it was something to be expected, when the news about the UPSR English and Science leak came out earlier this month, just a few days after students had sat for the papers.

As usual, there was finger pointing and tuition centres were the latest scapegoats.

The independent committee set up by the Education Ministry to review the management of its public examinations was expected to hold its first meeting today (Sept 24).

Its chairman, former chief justice Tun Zaki Tun Azmi said the panel would focus on scrutinising the system and finding ways to enhance the standard operating procedures (SOP) used.

Another parent, Julius Ikon, said exam stress was really something his child could do without at this point of his life.

“Like Mathematics, Science is one of the most important papers in UPSR. Many parents want their children to score As in these subjects. There are a lot of pressure. The news about the resitting has demoralized these 12 years old, who will have to endure another three weeks of stress for. They are already undergoing major changes in their life, hormonal changes in becoming teenagers. Another exam is the last thing they need,” he said.