Opposition MP Mas Ermieyati Samsudin says this after the proposed diagnostic screening for six-year-olds seeking enrolment in Year 1 was scrapped.
Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (PN-Masjid Tanah) made the remark after Anwar told the Dewan Rakyat today that the education ministry would not proceed with the proposed diagnostic screening for six-year-olds seeking enrolment in Year 1 as it could be considered discriminatory.
“Last week, the education minister suggested that parents pray and hold ‘heart-to-heart’ discussions before deciding whether to enrol their six-year-old children in Year 1,” Mas Ermieyati told the Dewan Rakyat.
“Before parents even had time to do this, today the prime minister said the policy would not be implemented. How does that work?
“I suggest the education minister should perform similar prayers and have ‘heart-to-heart’ discussions with the prime minister before making any announcement,” she said during the debate on the royal address.
Anwar told the Dewan Rakyat that the proposed diagnostic screening for six-year-olds seeking enrolment in Year 1 would be scrapped as some children might be deemed ineligible.
He was responding to a supplementary question from Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muda-Muar), who asked whether the diagnostic assessment should be reviewed.
Noting that children who fail the screening would have to postpone their school enrolment by a year, Syed Saddiq also highlighted a Unesco report warning against screening tests that separate slower-learning children from faster-learning peers at an early age.
Anwar then said the education ministry had reviewed the matter and decided that the test would be cancelled.
“…it could result in children being labelled unfit or less intelligent, (and) this may have psychological consequences (on them),” he said, as reported by Bernama.
“Therefore, it is now scrapped. This was the education minister’s recommendation, and I agreed.” - FMT
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