SIBU: The Ministry of Education (MoE) has been urged to retrain educators on how to approach the Form 3 Assessment (PT3).
Educationalist Felician Teo, in making the suggestion, said that what the ministry needed to do was not to provide more guidelines or sample answers but address the root problem.
He pointed out that the current mindset among school administrators and teachers were based on the old examination system where guidelines were provided for the setting of examination questions and the answers and how they were marked.
“We cannot blame teachers for their apprehension as they were schooled in the old system.
“We need to ‘reskill and upskill’ them on how to adopt a more current and innovative approach to assess student competency levels and to move away from the rote learning and exam based system which they are so familiar,” Teo told The Borneo Post.
Teo was commenting on the suggestion by National Parent-Teacher Association Collaborative Council (PIBGN) president Prof Madya Datuk Mohamad Ali Hasan for the ministry to provide a comprehensive book on guidelines with detailed information.
Mohamad Ali argued that clear explanations on how teachers mark the papers should be given to parents and students, including samples of answers that are being considered.
He reportedly said that such an explanation could also avoid any misunderstandings or assumptions that the teachers were biased or practiced favouritism in allocating marks.
Teo observed that, “Under the new PT3, a less rigid system was introduced whereby teachers
were given the flexibility to
exercise their discretion or judgment within certain parameters in assessing student aptitude levels.
“Here, the problem arises as evidenced by the request for guidelines from Prof Datuk Mohd Ali Hassan that our current school educators lack the training or experience in implementing the new system.
“They are too frightened to ‘act out of the box’ so to speak and this old paradigm is what we are trying to change for the students.”
He added that the school system was criticised as being too rigid and out of date, hence students lacked lateral and higher level thinking skills.
He said it was clear from the views expressed by PIBGN that teachers and school administrators were not prepared to implement PT3.
“PT3 is a big step in the right direction to transform our current school system,” Teo remarked.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Bumiputera Teachers Union (KGBS) had suggested that MoE roll out roadshows to enhance parents’ comprehension of the PT3 examination and its implementation.
Its president Ahmad Malie expressed optimism and confidence that parents would be able to better comprehend PT3 through such measures compared to a comprehensive book on guidelines with detailed information.