In yet another incredible flip-flop, Minister of Education Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has announced on Tuesday that the controversial School-Based Assessment (PBS) has been revamped and will be reintroduced next month in a new format that lessens the burden of teachers.
In its previous incarnation implemented in 2011, teachers were required to become data entry clerks by keying in assessment details of students according to centrally defined parameters on a daily basis. What made their work even more complicated was the fact that the online system could not handle the traffic load, oftentimes leading to teachers staying up till two or three in the morning in order to finish their work. This then directly impaired their ability to focus on their core duty, which is to teach.
The new, revamped PBS will no longer require any online data entry. Instead, teachers now only need to keep track of student performances offline and at their own pace, which essentially is no different from what they were doing before. Additionally, examinations will be reintroduced at the Form 3 level in order to assess and stream students into Form 4. This also means that the previously abolished PMR has now revived as the “PT3,” with slight modifications.
Notwithstanding the fact that millions of ringgit must have been invested in infrastructure for the online School-Based Assessment Management System (SPPBS), as well as for its operations and maintenance costs, a more pressing question now arises.
Cancel the transfer orders, stop victimising teachers
On 22 February 2014, a teachers’ NGO called Suara Guru Masyarakat Malaysia (SGMM) held a protest in Putrajaya against the implementation of the PBS, pointing out the burdens that the system imposed on teachers and demanding that it be scrapped.
For this, several teachers involved in the protest were punished with 24-hour transfer orders, including the chairman of SGMM, Mohd Nor Izzat Johari, who was transferred to a rural school in Pahang 80km away from where he lives.
However, Muhyiddin’s latest flip-flop decision to abolish most of the controversial aspects of the SBA clearly vindicates Mohd Nor Izzat and his colleagues. As such, it is only right that their transfer orders are rescinded immediately and all victimised teachers should be restored to their previous schools. Failure to do so will send a clear message that the Ministry is intent on victimising teachers simply for standing up for their profession, even when they are proven right in the end.
If the Government is serious in its efforts to increase the quality of teachers and to attract a brighter, more dedicated and motivated teaching force, then the victimisation of teachers must cease immediately.