So what's an Alpha girl to do with her Beta boy?

Three years into their secondary education at age 15, students are tested to gauge their progress, with the prospect of taking the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) two years down the road at 17.

The SPM is the local equivalent of the `O’- Levels from where the future of the Malaysia school student normally is forever forged.

PMR was essential since the results at this stage was used to channel the students into Form 4 (and on to From 5) into the Science, Arts or Technical streams. Those who scored in their basic Science and Mathematics would, as a matter of course, be `directed’ to join the Science classes while those with poorer performance invariably end up in the Arts stream.

It was in the middle of this year that the Education Ministry decided that this year’s batch of PMR-bound students would have the trailblazing privilege of taking the alternative exam cryptically–dubbed PT3.

Why PT3? P for Pernilaian (Assessment); T for Tahap (Level); 3 for year 3.

Translated; PT3 is a schools-based assessment which means the onus of assessing the performance, attainment and potential of the students was left entirely in the hands of the school, not the national examination body.

The idea was good, the notion was admirable; the method was commendable. The result however – as seen from the reaction of the `pioneer guinea pigs’; and their parents – leaves plenty of issues that need to be addressed.

Firstly, many students who their teachers, parents and more importantly themselves; would in the old regime be high-flyers, ended up with a measly collection of `A’s when the results were handed out to them.

As a result – ha ha, pardon the intentional pun – many felt positively underwhelmed, academically inadequate and extremely unhappy that they could not match the string of superlatives their elder siblings collected the previous years.

Therein lies the rub – how to drum into their impressionable minds that life is not about how many `As’ one collects. The parents; quite a few who are hardly enamored with the existing education system in its present form, were absolutely devastated by the outcome.

The ministry, the education department, the examinations board all took a backseat on results day. There was none of the big `PR’ exercise mounted on the same grand scale that accompanied the announcement of results of common examinations of the past.

They could not; even if they wanted to; as this was not `their’ baby! Come to think of it, it would be for the individual schools to rouse the media and trumpet their achievements – if they have any.

Astro Awani’s coverage of results day also reflected this decided lack of pointers from the 'powers that be'. Like all other news outlets, the evening before, there would have been a slew of invites indicating some education notary or other holding court to announce the outcome of the examinations.

In the event, the media had to ferret out the reaction to the results for themselves – the easiest being to focus on those who still earned a string of `As’.

What they fail to highlight therefore was the real intention of the PT3, that it is how you lead your life that matters, not if you are an alpha girl or a beta boy!