The UPSR leak stained by greed

This perennial problem of exam papers being leaked has been an obstinate stain that refuses to be cleaned.

COMMENT

When news of the second leak in the UPSR examinations came to light last Thursday evening, the public’s earlier sense of worry and disappointment must surely have turned into anger and disbelief.

The sitting for the Science exam was cancelled when it was found that the leaked paper was circulated over the social media “WhatsApp” but the discovery of the leak in the English paper came too late as the students had already taken that exam.

Now with the English paper and Science paper being compromised, the Ministry of Education has rescheduled the re-sitting of the English paper for September 30 when the Science paper is also to be taken.

Rescheduling the Science exam is one thing but what irks parents and students most is the wasted effort and time in preparing and sitting for the English exam only to find it voided. They now face the prospect of a tiresome and stressful re-do. Even the kids are complaining that the holidays are not beginning for them when they ought to on Friday, afraid that the one week absence from school will be just another grind.

This year there are approximately 473,000 students sitting for the UPSR, so one can easily imagine a scenario where nearly one million angry dads and mums are sharing their annoyance and disgust with their friends and families.

Any conscientious parent with a child doing UPSR would have been preparing their child all year long for this nationwide standardised assessment. It marks the completion of six years of compulsory primary education for the 12-year-old grouping in Malaysia.

It is common knowledge that competitive parents would enrol their children for lessons at tuition centres in addition to normal school in the hope of giving their kids an extra edge in standardised government examinations. Although leaks have occurred in the past they have mostly been confined to the senior levels like SPM. This the first confirmed incident involving the very junior UPSR level exams.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) have been helping police track down the culprits responsible for the leak and Education Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin has suspended the Director and Deputy Director of the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate (LPM) in response to angry calls from parents for someone to be held accountable.

Former Senator and Johor DAP deputy chairman, S Ramakrishnan said that the education minister was always apologising for the leakages but the problem kept recurring, citing the leaked SPM papers from last year.

With the staggering number of students annually sitting for major government exams like STPM, SPM, PT3 and UPSR the niche business of tuition has become a booming industry as many parents believe their children are not getting quality from the teachers in the national school system.

This UPSR train wreck has shown up a ministry of education that has been inadequate in the handling of matters that really count. It’s immaterial if the top directors are political appointees or if they have climbed up the hierarchy from within. What the public expects to see is their ability to handle the task entrusted to them with efficiency, integrity and maximum transparency.

This perennial problem of exam papers being leaked has been an obstinate stain that refuses to be cleaned. It is also symptomatic of larger problems that exist in the management of the national school system as a whole. As evidenced by the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) 2012 report conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) once every three years, Malaysia is at 52nd place behind Thailand, Chile and Vietnam while a neighbour down south who shared a common but brief history with us came in 3rd. The rankings were based on our command of Maths and Science.

Another morale sapping issue faced by teachers is the ad hoc manner in which the new assessment and exam format of Penilaian Tingkatan 3 (PT3) is being implemented for form three students. There have been complaints that front-line teachers have not been adequately prepared by the ministry and eleventh hour briefings have left many teachers still confused about how to prepare their pupils for their first ever PT3 finals.

It is not only the PT3 exams at year end which is their concern but also the lack of formal tests to stage the students through the curriculum year which is proving demotivating, as students and teachers have grown accustomed to the termly exams marking their progress or lack thereof as the syllabus is covered.

The other blight on the system is the intrusive and incoherent reshaping of ministry policies, whether necessary or not, with each change of its political head.

As with government linked companies like MAS; while government ministries and their political masters continue to play down fiascos like these and accountability to them is the right hand washing the left hand, it is doubtful if the real criminals and culprits will ever be brought to book. It is certain that the motive behind this dastardly act was not to embarrass but surely greed. It has however made the rakyat more aware at which door embarrassment and blame should be placed.

Our children and the national school system must not be turned into lab experiments for politicians aspiring to seek fame through the games of social restructuring and indoctrination, while neglecting the true purpose of providing a comprehensive education that will equip our children to be knowledgeable, independent and confident individuals.