PT3: Difficult to obtain all As, more room to develop quality human capital - SAMM

The Form Three Assessment Examination (PT3) results announced yesterday were received with less fanfare as the number of students who obtained all-As is viewed to be able to produce students armed with quality human capital values.

All hopes to obtain Straight A’s are dashed among the students who sat for the exams unlike the results obtained for Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examinations in the past," said Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) founder, Badrul Hisham Shaharin.

“A lot of people are disappointed with the results. Not only the students, but parents too and their disappointment has been viral in social media sites.

“Why? For years, the society is accustomed to a school-level examination which is seen easy especially in garnering all A's.

“All of a sudden, the PT3 examination is introduced and inevitably led to the disappointment of the students in obtaining Straight A's like the PMR exams in the past. Truth be told, the PT3 exams will no longer produce ‘Straight A’s students.

“The total is minimal, although students from renowned fully residential schools or the Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM),” said Chegubard in a statement here, today.

The PT3 assessment is not the end of the journey to determine the future of the students, it must be otherwise, viewed positively to heighten their motivation to garner excellent results in their SPM examinations or a higher level in the future,” he added.

“In reality, not all of the students who garnered ‘Straight A’s’ in their PMR would be able to sustain the success in SPM or obtain ‘Four Flat’ in their cumulative grade point average (CGPA) at university level.”

“The society should not worry. Not everyone is successful and become rich as engineers, scientists and doctors.

“There have been those who have succeeded as novelists, lawyers, accountants, businessmen, sportsmen or others.

“Whether we require quality human capital or not, we are the ones responsible in creating them. And the world is never enough of greedy people who are hungry for A’s in their exams,” he explained.

He also explained that the subjective structure is to prepare ‘open response’ compared to the objective questions structures that offer multiple choice response in PMR which will open up the opportunity for students to digest the ability to do critical thinking compared to that offered by objective questions.

“Students are no longer required to memorise the syllabus, but it must be comprehensively understood in order for them to answer accordingly during the exams.

“Apart from that, marks and grades are determined right from the start and not be tampered in order to produce genuine Straight A’s students. And not just produce grade A students merely on papers.

Although the quantity of Grade A is lesser than PMR exams, in reality they must possess merit to obtain an A in at least, one subject,” he said.