LEAKING & PREDICTING ARE DIFFERENT: 'Forecasting questions should stop' - Muhyiddin barking up the wrong tree?

GENTING HIGHLANDS - Calling the recent Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) fiasco sad and embarrassing, Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is all for the suggestion by the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) to stop the practice of forecasting exam questions.

"By stopping this practice, a new culture can be formed and we can truly aspire for our education system to be among the best in the world," he said in his speech at the NUTP Tri-annual Delegates Conference here today.

Speaking to reporters later, Muhyiddin, who is also deputy prime minister, declined to reveal what was discussed at the high-level management meeting he had chaired earlier in the day with ministry officials, but gave an assurance that the steps and procedures which will be taken will definitely strengthen and fine-tune the nation's education and examination system.

In addition, he said the new initiatives to be implemented will ensure that the integrity of the Malaysia Examination Syndicate and the Education Ministry as well as the teaching profession will always be respected.

Earlier, NUTP secretary-general Lok Yim Peng had called for better and stricter rules and regulations to be put in place to govern teachers who assist in preparing examination questions.

Lok said teachers were only obliged to sign the Official Secrets Act document which led some to think that it would not be a serious matter if they commit any wrongdoing.

"However, if there are some other stricter rules and regulations or even enforcement by the authorities then the teachers will be more careful," Lok told theSun on the sidelines of the conference.

Lok also suggested that the practice of forecasting questions before any major examination should be stopped.

In a related development, Education Minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said the government will announce the names of those who will sit in the independent committee set up to review the Standard Operating Procedure of the Malaysian Examination Syndicate in a day or two.

"We will announce the names tomorrow or the day after," he said after a special meeting on the UPSR leaks, at the Education Ministry in Putrajaya. -Sundaily