PROPOSALS to reinstate national examinations such as the Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) and the Form Three Assessment (PT3) are gaining renewed support amid concerns that Malaysia’s education system lacks a fair, standardised national benchmark.
The president of the National Council of Parent-Teacher Associations (PIBGN), Associate Professor Datuk Dr Mohamad Ali Hasan, said the absence of nationwide examinations has created significant gaps in assessment, particularly as schools now rely heavily on classroom-based and school-based evaluations.
He said the current approach has resulted in inconsistent standards and a tendency to encourage high grades at school level without a strong national reference point.
“PIBGN is of the view that UPSR and PT3 should be reinstated, with improvements in quality, integrity and alignment with the current needs of the national education system,” he said.
Mohamad Ali stressed that standardised national examinations play a critical role in objectively measuring foundational literacy and numeracy skills, including the 3M or 4M competencies, at the early stages of education, as well as assessing students’ readiness for academic streaming at secondary level.
“Standardised assessments allow for recovery and intervention efforts to be carried out in a structured, meaningful and systematic manner, without sidelining students who fall behind,” he said.
He added that quality education for all must be implemented comprehensively to ensure every individual receives the education needed for the interests of religion, nation and country, as well as global competitiveness.
Meanwhile, Associate Professor Dr Ahmad Zamri Khairani of the Centre for Educational Studies at Universiti Sains Malaysia said classroom-based assessment and public examinations should not be viewed as mutually exclusive, but rather as complementary components of a balanced assessment system.
He explained that classroom-based assessment is fundamentally formative in nature, aimed at supporting continuous learning by identifying students’ actual levels of mastery.
“Information from classroom-based assessment allows teachers to plan appropriate interventions and follow-up activities to support student learning,” he said.
“This differs from public examinations, which are summative in nature and focus more on grading and reporting achievement.
“Each assessment programme must be implemented in line with its original purpose.
“In that context, classroom-based assessment and public examinations each have distinct roles and can be implemented simultaneously without eliminating either,” he said.
At the same time, Zamri acknowledged that public examinations remain necessary as standardised and fair measurement tools for various educational purposes, including student placement and policy planning.
“The national assessment system needs to retain both classroom-based assessment and public examinations, but they must be designed in a more integrated way so as not to burden students, teachers and parents.
“Abolishing classroom-based assessment and fully reverting to public examinations risks repeating the weaknesses of the old system.
“What is more important is finding the right balance for the sake of the country’s education quality,” he said. - January 10, 2026
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