Since the abolition of Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3 (PT3) in 2021, stakeholders across the country have called for their reinstatement.
It appears those calls may have borne fruit. Earlier this month, the Education Ministry hinted at the possibility of bringing back the two national public examinations. Yet, despite the general enthusiasm, I believe this would be a step in the wrong direction.
It is undeniable that Malaysia’s education standards have fallen behind those of our regional neighbours. The most recent global assessment in 2022 saw Malaysia record some of its lowest historical scores, lagging significantly behind countries such as Singapore and Vietnam.
While these results can be partly attributed to the absence of centralised examinations, placing the blame solely on their removal ignores the deeper, structural crisis facing our education system.
The syllabus crisis
We cannot talk about restoring education quality without first addressing the elephant in the room – a bloated syllabus.
Much like our bureaucracy, the curriculum is weighed down by unnecessary topics. There is an unhealthy obsession with volume over value. Students, particularly those in the early years of primary school, are forced to grapple with complex material that bears little relevance to their cognitive development. This approach undermines the very purpose of schooling: learning.
What is needed instead is a comprehensive syllabus overhaul. The curriculum must be aggressively streamlined by removing redundant sub-topics to allow space for genuine mastery. Education should not be a race to complete chapters but a process of deep understanding.
If students are unable to grasp foundational concepts because teachers are rushing to complete the syllabus, we are building a generation on quicksand.
Another persistent flaw is the emphasis on rote memorisation. In an era that prizes critical thinking, our syllabus continues to fall short. Malaysia’s flagship examination, the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), still applies a 5:3:2 difficulty ratio – 50 per cent low-level questions, 30 per cent intermediate and only 20 per cent high-level.
If even our toughest examination is half composed of “easy” questions, we must ask whether we are truly challenging students.
A shift towards a skills-based approach is essential if we are to produce a competitive future workforce. The Education Ministry has taken tentative steps in this direction through the reintroduction of speaking and listening components for Bahasa Melayu and English, as well as science practical tests for Physics, Chemistry and Biology in the SPM.
These assessments compel teachers to adopt more practical, application-based teaching methods. They also complement existing project-based evaluations, such as coursework requirements for Principles of Accounting.
Let teachers teach
Even the most carefully designed syllabus will fail if its delivery mechanism – teachers – remains broken.
The most common complaint among Malaysian educators is burnout. Teachers are expected to function as administrative clerks, endlessly preparing documentation, managing events, coaching sports teams and escorting students, often at the expense of actual teaching.
Freeing teachers from non-teaching responsibilities must be treated as an urgent priority. This requires either a significant expansion of the support workforce or genuine administrative reform within schools.
One practical solution is the introduction of a dedicated Teaching Assistant programme. The ministry could leverage the MySTEP initiative to recruit fresh graduates seeking employment. These assistants could take on administrative tasks currently shouldered by teachers.
Such a move would increase annual emoluments, even with contract-based appointments. However, any investment that strengthens national education is one worth making.
The way forward
Reinstating UPSR and PT3 may appease public nostalgia, but without accompanying structural reforms it remains a cosmetic fix. It is akin to applying a bandage to a broken limb.
Unless the syllabus is reformed and teachers are allowed to focus on teaching, these examinations will merely measure how effectively students memorise a flawed system. The ministry must resist the temptation of populist solutions and commit to the more difficult task of genuine reform.
This is not to dismiss the role of examinations altogether. Exams are neither villains nor saviours. Without reform, they become little more than noise. With reform, they can serve as meaningful signals for policymakers, educators and parents alike.
Doing the right thing often comes at a cost. Implementing national-scale reform will not be easy, but it is a responsibility we cannot avoid. Failing to try would be the real failure.
Irham Zulkernain is a writer based in Kelantan and a student of Applied English Language Studies at Universiti Poly-Tech Malaysia.
The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of Twentytwo13.
