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Ministry to conduct PT3 analysis

KUALA LUMPUR: THE Education Ministry will conduct a detailed analysis on this year’s implementation of the Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3 (PT3) examination and come up with improvements to ensure that Malaysians continue to get the best education system, said Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh.

He said the ministry acknowledged that there were weaknesses in the new-format examination, which replaces Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR), and thanked those who had given feedback on the matter.

“We will study the feedback and work on improvements for the new format,” he told the New Straits Times yesterday.

Idris reiterated that the implementation of PT3 was part of the Malaysia Education Development Plan 2013-2025 after having received feedback from 55,000 people.

“One of the feedback received was that our education system should not be entirely examination oriented, and our students should be nurtured with critical-thinking and communication skills,” he said, adding that this was why students were assessed by their schools instead of PT3 being a centralised examination.

Idris said PT3 had an improved examination format, comprising more questions that required higher-order thinking skills (HOTS), and co-curriculum, sports, student leadership and psychometric assessments to evaluate students.

Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung (GPMS) yesterday urged the government to conduct a post-mortem on the results and implementation of PT3, following grouses expressed by educators, parents and students.

GPMS deputy president Datuk Irmohizam Ibrahim said the government must take heed of the complaints by these groups, as they were crucial to improving PT3.

“Conducting a post-mortem is important, as it will allow the government to study the methodology, format and strategies for PT3 in the future. We have to make sure that the quality of our public examination system improves over time, (so that) we can return and strengthen the faith of the people in our system.”

This year, 453,413 Form Three candidates sat for PT3 at 2,608 examination centres in October. The results were released on Monday. The examination has received mixed reactions from the public.

Irmohizam, who is also Kuala Selangor assemblyman, said PT3 could hold the key in fulfilling the five aspirations under the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025.

The five aspirations are access, quality, equity, unity and efficiency.

“Just because some people have expressed their dissatisfaction with the results, it does not mean that PT3 has failed. In fact, it should be taken as a guide for the examination’s implementation in the future.

“People need to understand that PT3 and PMR are different and should not be compared. PT3 was designed to specifically test HOTS, while PMR was not.

“I hope educators, parents and students continue to do their part in ensuring that the government continues to improve the education system, so that it will benefit the nation in the future.

“Our education system cannot be built in a day. It requires everyone to play his role for it to be effective.”

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