Adam said said there would be more training needed for teachers to carry out school or class-based examinations, which could push them to retirement. – Malay Mail photo
MIRI (June 3): Teachers will have to shoulder extra assessment work burden and will have less time to prepare for lessons following the abolishment of the Form 3 Assessment (PT3), said Sarawak Teachers’ Union (STU) president Adam Prakash Abdullah.
He said there would be more training needed for teachers to carry out school or class-based examinations, which could push them to retirement.
STU president Adam Prakash Abdullah said this when asked on the implications to teachers and students of the latest government decision where teachers can expect extra work burden as assessment would be conducted continuously.
“Teachers will not be happy and we expect many more would want to leave the service earlier as they will not be able to cope with the job demands,” he said when asked on the implications of the abolishment of the PT3, announced by Senior Education Minister Datuk Radzi Jidin yesterday (June 2).
Radzi said his ministry will introduce more school and class-based evaluation to replace the formal testing.
The minister explained that the strengthening of these assessments would include three main components, which are classroom assessments, physical, sports and co-curriculum assessments and psychometric assessments.
There would be greater emphasis on Summative Assessment (year end exams) through final tests of academic sessions for five selected subjects at the primary school level and all subjects at the lower secondary level through yearly assessments.
Adam believes that this would mean more clerical work as this policy would require collections of data through direct evaluation, observation and activities which would deprive teachers of their lessons preparation time and breaks.
To perform testing and evaluation on their students, teachers would have to be trained to carry out school or classroom based examinations, he added.
“Students would need to be trained better in their study skills as the assessment will definitely require a high level of competence and confidence to be able to enjoy good marks from the teachers.
“They will also need to be told clearly as to how they will be graded and how performance based assessment will be carried out.
“STU does not want the students to be very ill informed of how they will be evaluated and thus unfairly graded,” he said.
Asked on how different would be approached by schools and teachers going forward, Adam said there must be a paradigm shift among the teachers to prepare themselves for more dynamic assessment procedures.
He said teachers must be prepared to explain the assessment procedures to parents and students while school administrators have to ensure that the teachers are trained and given continuous professional development to conduct their assessment effectively and professionally.
Teachers should also be protected against any unwarranted accusations towards their job as a teacher, he pointed out.
On complications that would need to be addressed, Adam believes that the MOE through the state and district education office should conduct a roadshow to explain how the Form 3 students will be assessed and that the results of such assessment are valid and justifiable.
“There should be an innovative and creative system to help teachers manage the process so as not to take away their instructional time,” he said.