NUTP supports ministry's proposal to abolish UPSR

The National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) supports the proposal by the Education Ministry to abolish Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR).

Its president, Kamarozaman Abd Razak said the decision was made at the union's council meeting today.

"NUTP supports the proposal by the ministry on the condition that they refer the matter to us first.

"The ministry has to involve us in the discussion, including when conducting the study on the matter," he told a media conference after the meeting here.

He said the union's decision was made to reduce pressure on teachers, as well as to change the perception of some members of the public who regarded "A" as a benchmark to gauge the quality of a student.

"Students will be assessed by their respective schools, and not merely based on their centralised examination results," he added.

Last Nov 22, Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid was reported to have said that a decision on whether to abolish UPSR would only be made next year.

In a related development, Kamarozaman urged the Malaysian Examination Board and the Education Ministry's Curriculum Development Division to make public the marking scheme for the recent UPSR.

He said this in response to the recent UPSR result which showed only 1.11 per cent of the 440,782 candidates obtained straight As. -- BERNAMA