Malaysia’s education system: A policy indecision dressed up as consultation

 

THE Education Ministry’s decision to “review” the possible revival of THE Pentaksiran Tingkatan Tiga (PT3) and Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) once again exposes a chronic weakness in Malaysia’s education governance: an inability to strike a stable and credible balance between examination-based accountability and holistic student development.

For over two decades, Malaysia’s education system has oscillated between two extremes. On one hand, national examinations such as UPSR and PT3 were criticised for promoting rote learning, tuition dependency, and unhealthy academic pressure.

On the other, their abrupt abolition without a mature, well-resourced, and trusted alternative—created a vacuum of standards, comparability, and public confidence. What we are witnessing now is not reform, but policy indecision dressed up as consultation.

They provide a common national benchmark, ensure minimum learning standards, and function as a social equaliser for students from less privileged backgrounds who rely on transparent, merit-based assessment.

The removal of UPSR and PT3 did not eliminate exam pressure; it merely shifted it unevenly, favouring students in better-resourced schools and households who can navigate subjective school-based assessments more effectively.

At the same time, the Education Ministry’s attempt to replace these exams with school-based assessments underestimated two realities.

First, Malaysia’s schools operate under vastly unequal conditions. Second, teachers—already burdened with administrative work—were not adequately trained, supported, or protected to implement fair, consistent, and credible continuous assessment nationwide.

(Image: The Star)

The result has been assessment inflation, inconsistency, and parental distrust, precisely the concerns now prompting calls to revive the very exams that were hastily abolished.

The current review, while presented as prudence, risks reinforcing a damaging perception: that education policy in Malaysia is driven more by political cycles and public pressure than by long-term educational philosophy.

Students who experienced the abolition of UPSR and PT3 are now approaching critical academic transitions, having been subjected to shifting rules mid-journey. This instability undermines not only learning outcomes but also confidence in the system itself.

What Malaysia lacks is not another committee or survey, but policy coherence. The false binary between examinations and holistic education must be abandoned. High-performing education systems do not choose between the two; they integrate them.

Standardised exams can coexist with project-based learning, co-curricular development, and character education—provided roles are clearly defined and expectations consistently enforced.

If UPSR and PT3 are to be revived, they must return in reformed, diagnostic forms, not as blunt ranking instruments. If they are not, then school-based assessment must be radically strengthened through national moderation, teacher capacity building, and transparent reporting.

Doing neither decisively, only wavering between both, will continue to produce confusion, inequality, and reform fatigue.

Ultimately, education reform demands courage: the courage to commit, to explain, and to stay the course. Without that, Malaysia’s students will remain trapped in a system that keeps changing the rules, while expecting them to perform as if nothing has. 

KT Maran
Seremban, Negri Sembilan

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.

- Focus Malaysia.