Article 1: The right criteria for the best results IKIM Views Published: Tuesday January 20, 2015 MYT 12:00:00 AM Updated: Tuesday January 20, 2015 MYT 6:56:48 AM by mohd farid mohd shahran http://www.thestar.com.my/Opinion/Columnists/IKIM-Views/Profile/Articles/ 2015/01/20/The-right-criteria-for-the-best-results Although PT3 is only one of the levels of assessment in the secondary schooling system, it will be the litmus test for the system to be applied at a higher level. RESULTS of the recent Form Three Assessment, PT3 (Pentaksiran Tingkatan Tiga), were the first for students under the new Malaysian Educational Plan (PPPM) which the Government embarked on in 2011. The seemingly unremarkable results have caused dissatisfaction among some parents, especially when they are compared with that of the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) results of previous years. To compare PT3 with PMR is quite unjustified, as both assessments are different. While PMR was still mainly an exam-oriented and centralised assessment system, PT3 is based on the new School-Based Assessment (SBA or PBS) framework. It focuses on the continuous assessment method, emphasises higher order thinking skills and adopts the student-based learning approach. Thus, the only way to fairly assess PT3 is to compare it with the results of PT3 in the following year. More important, perhaps, is for us to be concerned about how students cope with the new system and how it can help them move to a higher level of learning as envisioned by the new plan. Among the criteria of the new plan is to produce students with higher order thinking skills. Based on the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), a standard taxonomy on student thinking ability by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Malaysia has been ranked fairly low. In the latest 2012 assessment, we were ranked 52nd out of 65 countries.
Transcript
Article 1: The right criteria for the best results
IKIM Views
Published: Tuesday January 20, 2015 MYT 12:00:00 AM Updated: Tuesday January 20, 2015 MYT 6:56:48 AM
Although PT3 is only one of the levels of assessment in the secondary schooling system, it will be the litmus test for the system to be applied at a higher level.
RESULTS of the recent Form Three Assessment, PT3 (Pentaksiran Tingkatan Tiga), were the first for students under the new Malaysian Educational Plan (PPPM) which the Government embarked on in 2011.
The seemingly unremarkable results have caused dissatisfaction among some parents, especially when they are compared with that of the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) results of previous years.
To compare PT3 with PMR is quite unjustified, as both assessments are different.
While PMR was still mainly an exam-oriented and centralised assessment system, PT3 is based on the new School-Based Assessment (SBA or PBS) framework.
It focuses on the continuous assessment method, emphasises higher order thinking skills and adopts the student-based learning approach.
Thus, the only way to fairly assess PT3 is to compare it with the results of PT3 in the following year.
More important, perhaps, is for us to be concerned about how students cope with the new system and how it can help them move to a higher level of learning as envisioned by the new plan.
Among the criteria of the new plan is to produce students with higher order thinking skills.
Based on the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), a standard taxonomy on student thinking ability by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Malaysia has been ranked fairly low.
In the latest 2012 assessment, we were ranked 52nd out of 65 countries.
By measuring students’ abilities in reading, mathematics and science literacy, Pisa emphasises functional skills that students have acquired as they approach the end of compulsory schooling.
Its measurement includes general or cross-curricular competencies such as problem solving.
As a country that is moving towards becoming a fully developed nation, Malaysia has to produce citizens who can think in an advanced manner.
Like all illustrious civilisations, including the Islamic tradition in the past, the achievements of a country hinge on the creativity and innovation of her people at every level.
In this respect, although PT3 is only one of the levels of assessment in the secondary schooling system, it will be the litmus test for the system to be applied at a higher level.
As a matter of fact, the same approach has already been in place at the tertiary education level in this country since the Higher Education Strategic Plan (NHESP) 2007-2020 was introduced, aimed at driving higher education institutions towards developing human capital with the capacity to create, innovate, generate and exploit new ideas as well as to apply technology and exercise superior entrepreneurial skills.
Hence, with the introduction of a new educational plan at the school level, which manifests its maiden fruition in the form of PT3, what Malaysia is trying to do is to apply the tertiary level method to the secondary level so as to expedite the process of producing a thinking generation in the country.
Nevertheless, the question remains as to how prepared are our students, who were used to the old exam-oriented system for so long, to deal with the new system?
The PT3 results might be a good indication of the difficulty students faced.
How about the preparation of the teachers to teach, prepare questions and assess students’ performance within the new system?
Indeed, this is crucial as the new SBA system allows teachers in high-performance schools a far greater role in evaluating the whole process of learning, including the assessments of the final examination.
Interestingly, the teachers themselves have never undergone a similar education system before.
Thus, this poses a challenging task for them to teach within the framework, while simultaneously learning it for the first time.
Another challenge posed is the support system that students receive from surrounding institutions including the family, media and society at large.
Do such institutions dance to the same rhythm in motivating students towards becoming a thinking generation?
Several recent issues reported by the media concerning politics and race might not help contribute towards this objective.
Similarly, the irresponsible trend of spreading unconfirmed sensational news to gain publicity in the social media will only destroy the noble aim of producing a thinking society.
In essence, education is about building a culture. It needs to be nurtured in a concerted manner which involves both formal and informal players.
Schools with a proper system and curriculum will only be successful if they are strongly supported by other social institutions that share their educational vision.
In the case of the new educational plan that aims, among others, to produce a society with the culture of higher order thinking, unless all the players of society, including parents and teachers, understand the true vision of this plan, it will remain a Herculean task to be accomplished.
Dr Mohd Farid Mohd Shahran is Senior Fellow/Director of Ikim’s Centre for the Study of Syariah, Law and Politics. The views expressed here are entirely his own
Published: Thursday January 8, 2015 MYT 12:00:00 AM Updated: Thursday January 8, 2015 MYT 7:49:09 AM
The newly introduced school-based assessment system (PT3) has drawn considerable flak among many quarters nationwide.
Many prefer the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) to the PT3. The grievances aired by Malaysians about the PT3 are strong testimony to the extent of our faith that examinations have earned.
However, researchers have empirically reported multifarious drawbacks in basing our judgment on the quality of teaching and learning by means of one-off examinations, which come mostly in written form, at the end of the learning process. PMR is a case in point.
The norm of holding students who performed with straight As in high regard and sidelining those who did not, is entrenched in many societies. Malaysia is not exempted from this norm.
Thus, one best shortcut to get straight As which students and teachers can think of is studying the format of examinations.
They may end up reviewing the format of examinations from one year to another to discover the most frequently asked questions and the ones which are rarely tested.
Worse still, those students who hail from well-off families may find the job of analysing the examination formats being done by their private tutors or tuition centres. They prepare for their exams in line with the format analysis. It is quite obvious that real learning may never take place if this is the case.
Ideally, an assessment which aims to promote learning should not have any fixed formats which in many cases are always abused by some quarters.
Instead, it should allow teachers to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses in their learning process as they could intervene accordingly.
While various drawbacks can be seen in other subjects, they are inevitably glaring in language learning environment. Learning any language is a social process as it has to be practised with others, either in oral or written forms.
Unlike the other subjects, the validity of written language examination results can always be called into question as it is almost impossible to test “everything in a language” in just an hour or two.
At the end of the day, a student who has managed to acquire an A in any language should be proficient enough in that language. To strengthen the proficiency of languages among students, it is best their own teachers teach and assess them over a period of time.
Thus, they may be more reliably able to observe their own students’ growth of learning unlike the one-off examination. Nevertheless, integrity and professionalism on teachers’ part is of great concern here.
Realising these shortcomings of assessing learners by means of one-off examinations and having external examiners scoring exam scripts, education systems around the world have now begun to assign teachers in schools to assess their own learners through multiple methods of testing to strengthen the reliability of tests and validity of the claims made based on the acquired results.
This system in broad terms is referred to as school-based assessment. As informed by research, this new assessment system has already been a norm in developed countries. Finland, which often outperforms other countries in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), is well-known for this assessment system. It has also been gaining popularity among many education systems in Asia.
In view of the transition in Malaysia from an entirely public examination at the lower-secondary level which has been in practice for about 30 years into totally school-based assessment, it is acceptable for such mixed reactions the new system has drawn at this stage.
Changing the assessment system alone may not create better teachers and learners but a significant change in our perceptions and attitude may do so.
Our society as a whole should make every effort to transform ourselves from being overly exam-oriented into learning-oriented lot.
ALLA BAKSH MOHD AYUB KHAN
MOHD SALLEHHUDDIN ABDUL AZIZ
Penang
Dear Thelma: Learning isn’t just about answering exam questions
Published: Sunday January 4, 2015 MYT 12:00:00 AM Updated: Tuesday March 17, 2015 MYT 4:14:54 PM
Dear Thelma: A student worries that a teacher's unconventional methods of teaching might affect his exam results.
I am a secondary school student. I just finished Penilaian Tingkatan 3 (PT3) and I’m very worried about my results.
Throughout the year, I had an English teacher who was new to the school. She was a nice teacher all around, but I started to worry about her teaching at the start of this year. By March, she had not touched the textbook or reference book even once in class, and she kept saying that we did not need to follow books to learn the language.
At this time, all my friends at my tuition centre told me that their schools had already finished with their syllabus and were starting to practise for the exams. When I told my teacher about this, she simply said that she had her own way of teaching her students.
We often did things that were not actual learning. For example, she played games which took up the whole 40 minutes of class. She often split us into groups and made us do activities that involved doing nothing but having discussions. This was useless when we could have been doing past-year paper questions or revision instead.
Once, she made us act in class, and the preparations and presentations took up English classes for the whole week. She did not use the reference books and didn’t give exercises to us, and this made me worried over whether I had done well in the actual exams because I felt I was not prepared at all.
When I asked her about possible exam questions, she refused to give us hints. She didn’t do extra classes either, unlike my aunt who is also a teacher. She was not doing anything that a teacher is supposed to, in my opinion, and it was bad for her students.
I see how my aunt teaches, and all the things she does for her students, like train them with past year exam papers to make sure they are prepared. My teacher did not do this at all, so how am I expected to do well?
When I came home from school, my mother would ask me if I had homework. When I said no, she would worry. I didn’t want to tell my parents about this teacher, because I didn’t want them to go to school and jeopardise my good relationship with this teacher.
I also didn’t want my friends to dislike me because I caused them to do more work in class. Yet, I also do not want to disappoint my parents with my results. — Worried Student
Thelma's advice:
Your anxiety about your exam results is understandable. Any student would have such concerns. However, your assertion that your teacher’s methods have been useless is a bit unfair.
What is the essence of a discussion? It is communication. And, what do you need to communicate? Language and its skills. Surely the activity was not useless. You must have learnt, aside from critical thinking skills, how to communicate to others what you are thinking. Also, you would have learnt how to understand social cues that would tell you when it is your turn to speak.
Last, but not least, it would have given you the confidence to speak up and speak in public.
The acting exercise would have done the same thing. And, your teacher had the good sense to set you an exercise that tests your public speaking skills as it is the number one fear afflicting people in many parts of the world.
Learning is not just about being able to answer exam questions. It is about acquiring knowledge and skills that you did not have before, or improving what you already know. Learning a language, especially, is about appreciating its beauty in the spoken and written word. Learning is not only about knowing how to answer exam questions.
So your teacher did not focus on the syllabus. The question is, did you learn anything? Looking at the very articulate letter that you have sent in, it can be said that you have learnt plenty. Instead of comparing yourself to other students, perhaps it is better to compare what you know now with what you knew before this teacher.
Or, compare who you are now and the person you were before this teacher taught you. Be honest. How much have you grown? What new skills and abilities do you have now compared to before?
Without brushing aside your anxiety, it has to be said that it is refreshing to see a teacher who was not focused on teaching students to answer exam questions. Instead, she was focused on actually teaching students.
This is not to undermine your aunt’s teaching style. She has her own way, as does your teacher. It is hard to say which is better. But, in this very exam-focused environment that we are in today, it is no wonder that you doubt your teacher’s ability.
We always see reports about employers lamenting the poor language ability of those just entering the work force. Could this be the case because schools are too focused on getting students to get through exams rather than actually teaching them the language, and the skills required to use it properly?
You want to do well in your studies, and no one can fault you for that. However, you must realise that doing well is not just about getting A’s. It is also about improving yourself – knowing something new; gaining a new skill.
Think about it and reflect upon yourself. Chances are that your year with this teacher has made you a new and better person. Then, you can judge your results when you get it.
■ Is something bothering you? Do you need a listening ear or a shoulder to lean on? Thelma is here to help. Email [email protected]. Include your full name and address (which will be kept confidential) and your preferred pseudonym for publication. No private correspondence will be entertained.
Published: Sunday December 28, 2014 MYT 12:00:00 AM Updated: Sunday December 28, 2014 MYT 10:38:35 AM
by priya kulasagaran, rebecca rajaendram, AND and stephanie aeria
Queens of KGV: Cheng Yu Xuan, P.Yaashiene, Nurliyana Syamini Azlinor, G. Dharini, Voon Yong Shing and S. Preyanka (clockwise) were all top scorers at SMK King George V, Seremban. --fotoBERNAMA (2014) HAKCIPTA TERPELIHARA
While the new Form Three assessment has drawn criticism, the move aims to gauge students more holistically and equip them with critical thinking skills.
ALTHOUGH the results of the first Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3 (PT3) last Monday were expected to be momentous, many did not anticipate just how dramatic it would be.
The PT3, which replaced the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) initially saw many students up in arms over what they felt were unsatisfactory results.
This was somewhat mitigated by subsequent clarifications from teachers and ministry officials, saying that comparing the PT3 to the PMR was trying to draw similarities between apples and oranges.
While there was talk of doing away with the PMR as early as 2005, it was only in 2010 that Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that the PMR will be abolished in favour of school-based assessments.
Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, said then that some 550 schools had been carrying out such assessments as part of a pilot project since 2008.
The school-based assessment system (Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah or PBS) was introduced to assess students more holistically, and lessen the excessive focus on examinations.
It was rolled out in primary schools for Year One pupils in 2011, and for Form One students in secondary schools in 2012.
Under the PBS, students are continuously assessed and graded from Band 1 (the ability to recall information) to Band 6 (the ability to have higher order thinking skills and knowledge).
Aside from academic assessments, students are also gauged on sports and co-curricular participation and undergo psychometric tests to better identify their interests.
The immediate source of frustration for teachers was the online system used to record students’ grades and “learning outcomes”, which often froze up and delayed the data entry process.
Additionally, while the ministry-issued Standard Performance Document outlined detailed ways to track students’ academic performance, the recording of the various “descriptors and evidence” for classrooms of 30-odd students for every lesson was too much for teachers to bear.
The Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013 – 2025 captured some of this early feedback, saying that teachers had “yet to fully grasp the magnitude of the change”.
“Some teachers and schools are also struggling to develop their own assessment tasks and instruments for the school assessment component,” said the blueprint, adding that the ministry was strengthening its training modules to tackle the issue.
Meanwhile, parents continued voicing their doubts over the PBS, as they felt that the system was unclear and lacked sufficient transparency.
Some, particularly those who were uneasy over the abolishment of the PMR, complained that their children would become “lazy” since they no longer had to “study for a major examination”.
However, from the start of the PBS, the ministry has maintained that there will be some form of centralised assessments.
Although the Examinations Syndicate would set the format and time frame of the centralised assessments, schools would be in charge of executing and marking – this process in turn would be monitored by external appraisers appointed by the ministry.
Although this overall plan stayed the same, the concrete details appeared to shift.
The PBS operational guidelines published by the Examinations Syndicate in 2012 for instance, stated that centralised assessments were scheduled to take place at the Form Two level itself.
However, the syndicate’s circular dated Dec 16 last year clarified that only Form Three students would face centralised assessments, and outlined which subjects would have written, oral and coursework assessments.
Following public feedback, the ministry in February informed schools that the PBS would be temporarily halted to iron out kinks in the system.
In March, Muhyiddin held a special press conference to announce that a revamped PBS will be rolled out from April 1 onwards, as well as details of the PT3.
The rebooted PBS simplified the process for day-to-day student assessments, and allowed teachers more autonomy in tracking their students’ progress.
While teachers still used the national curriculum and ministry guidelines, they could monitor students’ learning development based on their own observation and evaluation methods.
Teachers could also record this data “offline”, and share these records with parents.
In mid-June, the official PT3 schedule was announced: “case study instrument assessments” (or coursework) for History and Geography would be carried out in July, oral tests for Bahasa Melayu and English in August, and written tests in October.
Although the ministry had earlier carried out briefings and training sessions on the PT3 format, some students and teachers said that they only had a vague idea of how the test papers and questions would look like.
Even after the results were released last week, students still lamented the fact that their schools’ trial papers “didn’t at all look like the real tests”.
A reason for this is said to be the inclusion of more questions which tested students’ “higher order thinking skills” – questions meant to challenge students in applying the knowledge they have, instead of merely regurgitating information.
Unlike the PMR, there were no multiple choice questions in all the PT3 papers.
With thousands of students scoring straight As over the years, the sudden drop in As for the PT3 was a sore point for some parents.
Unlike previous years, the ministry did not issue a statement on the overall performance of students; ministry sources declined to comment, and only said that they no longer “compiled nor analysed” the scores of Form 3 students nationwide.
One ministry official speculated that the reason for lack of public comment may be part of the ministry’s move to shift the discussion away from the number of top scorers.
“Every year, for every public examination, all reporters want to know is which school scored the most As, how many scored straight As, and so on,” said the official.
While the PMR, like other public examinations, afforded grades based on the general performance of students, the PT3 has fixed cut-off scores for grades.
Thus, students would have to score 80 marks and above on paper to obtain an A.
A senior Mathematics teacher said that this was a “long-needed” move to have “a consistent grading system”.
“You’ll see a student getting Bs and Cs on school tests suddenly scoring an A in public exams; from there you can roughly guess the standard of grades in a given year,” said the teacher.
The Malaysia Education Blueprint probes further into this point, by comparing local examinations to international tests such as the Trends In Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS).
The TIMSS 2011 tested a representative sample of Grade 8 (or Form Two) students in 2010 – these same students then sat for the PMR in 2011.
The blueprint summarised that up to 38% of Malaysian students in the TIMSS 2011 did not meet the minimum standards for Mathematics and Science, noting that these students understood “basic Mathematics and Science concepts but generally struggled to apply this knowledge.”
While only 2% of Malaysian students achieved “advanced levels” in the TIMSS 2011, 32% of the same group of students received an A grade in the PMR 2011.
While teachers marked their own students papers in the PT3, these scores were looked over again by external invigilators (or Pentaksir Kawasan).
Some teachers pointed out that these examiners should also be held responsible if there were any jarring anomalies in the results.
“The process was very strict in my school – when the external invigilators looked over our marking, they told us that even a single discrepancy on one paper would mean we’d have to mark the entire pile again.
“If there’s a suddenly a spike in As in a particular district or area, those responsible for overseeing the schools should be queried,” said a teacher.
At the end of the day, the ministry will have to decide on how to move forward with the asssement.
In a statement on Wednesday, Education director-general Datuk Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof said the ministry appreciated public feedback on the matter and will continue to improve the system.
“The decision to replace the PMR with PT3 was made after gathering feedback from a wide spectrum of the public, who all wanted an education system that was not too focused on examinations.
“Instead, our country must produce quality students who have the ability to think critically, creatively, and out-of-the-box,” he said.
Article 4: PT3 students: We weren’t prepared for the examination
Published: Thursday October 16, 2014 MYT 12:00:00 AM Updated: Thursday October 16, 2014 MYT 7:11:27 AM
by ann-marie khor
PETALING JAYA: Students are upset over the Form Three Assessment (Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3 or PT3), claiming that they were ill-prepared for the examination.
The PT3, which ends today, consisted of written tests, oral tests and case study instrument assessments, held earlier this year.
A student, who only wanted to be known as Emma, from Kepong, said she was stressed out by the initial uncertainty of examination dates and formats.
“There were so many changes. We were only told about the ‘final’ changes in late June and had to sit for the case study instrument assessments and oral tests in July and August.
“Our teachers didn’t have time to finish the syllabus, let alone teach us how to tackle higher order thinking skills (HOTS) questions,” said Emma, who claimed that several HOTS questions even left her teachers confused.
Another student, Nicole Tan, from Kajang, said she found it unfair that schools could select their own set of questions.
“It’s not fair at all because some schools selected easier questions for their students but at the end of the day, our results would still be the same,” she said.
However, teachers expressed their support for the new system, saying that it would benefit students once the teething problems were sorted out.
Klang Methodist Girls’ School teacher Rose Mary Muthusamy said she hoped that the school-based assessment (PBS) and PT3 system would be refined and adopted permanently.
“It’s a fantastic examination that will really test the students’ abilities and produce a generation capable of thinking critically and creatively.
“Give it time and it will be better for the students,” she said.
SMK Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi teacher S. Chelvi said the HOTS questions encouraged students to think and develop their language skills.
“However, the new system is a burden to teachers who, besides their teaching duties, have to invigilate and mark the examination papers,” she said.
Published: Sunday October 12, 2014 MYT 12:00:00 AM Updated: Sunday October 12, 2014 MYT 8:28:55 AM
by datuk seri idris jusoh
That's it: Year Six pupils from SK Teruntum, Kuantan could not be happier as can be seen from the letters at the back of their shirts: U P S R and D O N E .With the recent exam leak, the pupils were forced to resit some of their papers. - Bernama
What comes to mind as we reflect on the recent UPSR fiasco is the need to bring about change by instilling the right values.
THANK You students for your hard work, patience, resilience and strength in sitting for the UPSR examination papers. Thank you, also, teachers and parents for your support, commitment, patience and understanding.
My gratitude goes out to all of you. From students being stressed-out, parents disappointed over having to postpone or cancel family plans, and teachers demoralised because of uncalled-for allegations against them, this issue has touched all Malaysians.
As a father, grandfather and someone with vested interest in the education system and its future, I share your feelings.
I have asked myself, why has this happened? Why would people leak the examination papers and some others so keen to spread them? In any case, it is the children who become victims.
In searching for answers, a few have come to mind. Perhaps it’s due to an over-emphasis on examinations, or a rewards system for schools and teachers which is based on examination results.
Maybe because we as a society, place too high a value upon the number of As, or maybe, just maybe, somewhere along the way there has been a desensitisation or tacit acceptance that it’s “normal” to feed students exam questions.
Whatever the reasons or causes, this has to be fixed and addressed.
The starting point is the value system in which we as a society operate. Education includes — and I must add very importantly — instilling correct moral values.
Copying and cheating is wrong and one must understand that there is zero tolerance for such behaviour. This must be emphasised and enforced, and I’ve recently stressed this in Parliament.
We need citizens who uphold good values and it starts with internal reflection as to who we are, what we stand for, and what examples we want to set for our children. This applies to everyone, including me.
Secondly, we must send the message that integrity is important. The integrity of teachers, examination syndicate officers and all those involved in the process are at stake. Society must condemn the perpetrators and support the efforts to bring the issue to justice.
Equally important is to uphold the integrity of our national examinations.
Some had questioned the need for the resit, as students will still move on to secondary school.
Resit blues: Pupils going through their books for the last time before the exams.
The point here is that students have studied hard for the UPSR; they deserve the opportunity to sit for the examination without the taint of leaked papers.
Definitely, it’s not the students’ fault that this happened. As such, support, encouragement, and motivation from parents and teachers are important.
I view this as a powerful learning moment for our students about life and overcoming adversity.
Next, it is important to make clear that between examinations and education, the latter must be prioritised. This can be achieved through a conducive education system.
I vouch that this is happening. For instance, through the School Based Assessment (SBA or PBS) initiative, we have been moving away from an exam-centric system over the last three to four years.
Similarly, through a Finland-esque approach, we are taking in only the best to become teachers. This and initiatives such as Teach For Malaysia help us enhance delivery in the long run.
The Ministry is also strengthening technical and vocational education and training (TVET) to reduce the dependency on pure academics and A’s.
In facilitating this systemic change, our higher education system is being revamped and improved. Higher education offerings are being diversified through our universities, polytechnics and community colleges.
Less emphasis on examination results occur when parents and students are able to see diverse pathways into higher education and vast economic opportunities thereafter.
Essentially, the full spectrum of the education system is undergoing change to facilitate this shift in values and priorities.
What we need is society’s support and faith, and time to see it through.
The UPSR paper leaks reinstate the importance of the ongoing changes.
This has also been an important period of reflection of our priorities and values, and I am heartened by the debates taking place in society.
In conclusion, my commitment to see reforms for a better education goes beyond my position in the government. One day I will no longer be around but my granddaughters who are a few years away from primary school will be. I do this for them and their future friends.
* The writer, Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh is Second Education Minister. Connect with him via Twitter @idrisjusoh, Facebook.com/datoseriidrisjusoh or e-mail [email protected]
This is the fifth in a series of articles for this column which appear every fortnight. It will also see the contributions of Deputy Education Ministers Datuk Mary Yap and P. Kamalanathan who will share their views on various education-related issues.
