Tomorrow, all Standard 6 students all over Malaysia will sit for UPSR examination, which will determine whether they will get to go to border or daily school. Nothing more than that. This examination does not really going to determine their future. I mean they may score 5As but that does not really determine their future direction. It is the PMR and SPM that determine their direction.
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Talking about UPSR that reminds me of my good old days, way back in the year of 1988, exactly 20 years ago, I was the first batch to sit for the exam. Before that, it was known as Penilaian Darjah 5. However, I am not going to flash back those memories, instead, I want to talk about our education system.
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Ever since I enrolled in my standard one in 1983, or perhaps years before that until now, we have had the same education system, which was and is examination oriented. The achievement of the students and the schools was and is measured on the number of student who scored straight A’s in major examination. But the question is whether it is good to have education system which is examination oriented?
.
Frankly speaking, I do not 100% agree with this examination oriented system. The system made the students to study just for their examination and then, they sit for the examination just because they want to pass and move on with their studies. That’s all. I am not talking about all, but I believe majority of our students think that way.
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When they study solely for their examination, they can hardly apply what they have learned in their life or at least after the examination. This is because they study by memorizing and not understanding. Not all of us have a good memory. Memory does not last long unless we keep on repeating on what we have memorized. It is like when someone memorise Al-Qur’an. He/she needs to do a lot of revisions I mean everyday to ensure that they do not forget what they have memorized. But that is ok because apart from understanding, Al-Qur’an is also meant for memorisation. Unfortunately, that is not the case with our academic subjects. It should be understood than a mere memorisation. This is because, what we learned in school should be applicable in our daily life. But when the students blindly memorise what is written in the text book without really understand the contents, how are they going to apply them in their life? Worst still, soon after the examination, they will forget about it because they have reached their objective i.e. to sit for the examination.
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Talking about this, I was told by my sister that my niece who is going to sit for UPSR examination tomorrow had to attend extra classes last weekend. I mean that was just 2 days prior to the big day, and yet the teacher still wanted to hold the extra classes. As if that is not bad enough, my niece and her friends has to attend more extra classes during examination day after they have completed all the papers for the day. Meaning to say, they sit for the examination in the morning and in the afternoon, they have to attend for their extra classes for tomorrow’s subject.
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If I were the parents, I would not really appreciate the efforts made by the teachers in trying to help the students. The question is by having extra classes over the weekend before the examination day and on the day itself, are they (the teachers) doing any good to the students? I do not think so. They are in fact putting a lot of pressure on the students. Students should be given their own space and time to study because they know better the area that they need to cover last minute. Having last minute extra classes cause more harm than good.
.
But some may think why can’t I appreciate what the teachers are trying to do i.e. to help the students? As I said earlier, they are not helping the students by giving extra classes during the examination days. This made me wonder, because nowadays, school’s achievement does matter too. So, is it really for the students or the schools?
.
Whatever it is, all the best to all the Standard Six students especially to my niece Nur Afiqah Binti Mohd Sakri and my nephew Ahmad Anwar Bin Rostani.
.
Talking about UPSR that reminds me of my good old days, way back in the year of 1988, exactly 20 years ago, I was the first batch to sit for the exam. Before that, it was known as Penilaian Darjah 5. However, I am not going to flash back those memories, instead, I want to talk about our education system.
.
Ever since I enrolled in my standard one in 1983, or perhaps years before that until now, we have had the same education system, which was and is examination oriented. The achievement of the students and the schools was and is measured on the number of student who scored straight A’s in major examination. But the question is whether it is good to have education system which is examination oriented?
.
Frankly speaking, I do not 100% agree with this examination oriented system. The system made the students to study just for their examination and then, they sit for the examination just because they want to pass and move on with their studies. That’s all. I am not talking about all, but I believe majority of our students think that way.
.
When they study solely for their examination, they can hardly apply what they have learned in their life or at least after the examination. This is because they study by memorizing and not understanding. Not all of us have a good memory. Memory does not last long unless we keep on repeating on what we have memorized. It is like when someone memorise Al-Qur’an. He/she needs to do a lot of revisions I mean everyday to ensure that they do not forget what they have memorized. But that is ok because apart from understanding, Al-Qur’an is also meant for memorisation. Unfortunately, that is not the case with our academic subjects. It should be understood than a mere memorisation. This is because, what we learned in school should be applicable in our daily life. But when the students blindly memorise what is written in the text book without really understand the contents, how are they going to apply them in their life? Worst still, soon after the examination, they will forget about it because they have reached their objective i.e. to sit for the examination.
.
Talking about this, I was told by my sister that my niece who is going to sit for UPSR examination tomorrow had to attend extra classes last weekend. I mean that was just 2 days prior to the big day, and yet the teacher still wanted to hold the extra classes. As if that is not bad enough, my niece and her friends has to attend more extra classes during examination day after they have completed all the papers for the day. Meaning to say, they sit for the examination in the morning and in the afternoon, they have to attend for their extra classes for tomorrow’s subject.
.
If I were the parents, I would not really appreciate the efforts made by the teachers in trying to help the students. The question is by having extra classes over the weekend before the examination day and on the day itself, are they (the teachers) doing any good to the students? I do not think so. They are in fact putting a lot of pressure on the students. Students should be given their own space and time to study because they know better the area that they need to cover last minute. Having last minute extra classes cause more harm than good.
.
But some may think why can’t I appreciate what the teachers are trying to do i.e. to help the students? As I said earlier, they are not helping the students by giving extra classes during the examination days. This made me wonder, because nowadays, school’s achievement does matter too. So, is it really for the students or the schools?
.
Whatever it is, all the best to all the Standard Six students especially to my niece Nur Afiqah Binti Mohd Sakri and my nephew Ahmad Anwar Bin Rostani.
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