The SBA, which was started in Primary One in 2011 and Form One in 2012, does

away with annual exams. The system had been successully used in other countries
and was chosen to re!lace the old centralised exam system because !arents and
teachers themsel"es elt that it was too obsessed with rote learnin# and the art o
ta$in# exams.
%owe"er, throu#h&out its three year lie s!an it has been do##ed with !roblems.
Teachers com!lained that it has dramatically increased their !a!erwor$ to the !oint
where they are ta$in# the assessments home.
There are no annual exams under SBA.
'ach day, teachers #rade !u!ils on a sub(ect based on a six&band s!ectrum startin#
rom band one understand) *the lowest+ to band six ,exem!lary) *the hi#hest+.
The data has to be entered each day into a centralised com!uter system.
-on#estion in the networ$ has seen teachers wa$e u! in the wee hours o the
mornin# to enter the data when online traic is low.
Teachers ha"e also com!lained o the "a#ueness in the six&band #radin# system
and that students are easily de&moti"ated in class because they are used to the old
hierarchical #radin# system o As, Bs and -s which distin#uished them rom their
!eers.
These wea$nesses led to a #rou! o teachers to hold a !rotest in Ban#i on February
22 to !ressure the #o"ernment to abolish the system.
& See more at. htt!.//www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/im!ro"ed&school&
based&assessment&system&to&be&made&$nown&on&march&101sthash.x!sunm2b.d!u
The school&based assessment is a transormation o the ocus rom examinations to
a more holistic education assessment system but, since last year, teachers had
com!lained that the tas$ o $eyin# in data online was burdensome, a##ra"ated by
the re3uent brea$down o the com!uter system.
The -abinet had decided on 4ec 15, 2010, to im!lement the school&based
assessment as !art o the education transormation !ro#ramme, with its
im!lementation startin# in 2011 or !rimary schools and in 2012 in secondary
schools.
%owe"er, on Feb 11 this year, the ministry decided to re"iew its im!lementation.
6uhyiddin ex!lained that the oline recordin# o data co"ered the use o a
Perormance Standards 4ocument sim!liied to a Student 'ducation 4e"elo!ment
7uide, Student 4e"elo!ment File, Transit 8ecord and maintainin# o student records
under the school&based assessment.
6uhyiddin said all these records !ortrayed a student9s educational de"elo!ment
durin# the teachin# and learnin# !rocess that could be con"eyed to his or her
!arents.
,For !arents who wanted to $now the le"el o !erormance o their children, the
school can !re!are a !erormance re!ort by holdin# monthly tests, a mid&year
examination or a inal&year examination,) he said.
6uhyiddin said the ministry would hold a briein# on the conce!t and im!lementation
o the school&based assessment or oicers at the district education oices and state
education de!artments, administrators and teachers.
%e said trainin# was a !rimary as!ect in ensurin# that teachers were able to
im!lement e"aluation.As such, he added, the ministry would stri"e to !ro"ide trainin#
so that the teachers understood the conce!t o e"aluation and !ut it into !ractice in
the teachin# and learnin# !rocess. - BERNAMA
2t is also a act that the role o teachers in the new assessment system is "ital.
Teachers will be #i"enem!owerment in assessin# their students. :onetheless, the
em!owerment also comes with the re3uirements osuicient $nowled#e and s$ills in
usin# "arious inormal methods o testin# and !sychometric testin#, such
asdia#nostic #eneral ability and a!titude test *Teacher 'ducation 4e!artment,
6inistry o 'ducation,
2005+. :onetheless, it was 3uite alarmin# to note that, as re!orted by %am;ah and S
innasamy *200<+ based on a !reliminary study they conducted, the oral SBA was not
im!lemented, accordin# to #uidelines and ob(ecti"es !ro"ided by the
6alaysian 'xamination Syndicate. %am;ah and Sinnasamy *200<+ concluded
that this mi#htindirectly !ro"ide e"idence o teachers9 lac$ o $nowled#e and s$ills in
conductin# SBA, such as the oral'n#lish assessment, des!ite o the a"ailability o
the #uidelines and ob(ecti"es.