Parents mull skipping UPSR test resit, want pupils absolved

Parents say it is unfair to ask pupils to resit the UPSR papers that were leaked as this will cause them additional stress and trauma. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, September 27, 2014.

Several parent groups are asking for their children to be exempted from resitting leaked USPR test papers, saying it places unnecessary pressure and causes them stress and trauma.

The parents said the pupils should not be penalised for not retaking the papers and wanted to know if the score of the original test would be used. The authorities have ordered a resit for Science, English, Mathematics and Tamil test papers.

“What will they do to students who don't want to resit?” asked Malacca Action Group for Parents in Education (MAGPIE) chairman Mak Chee Kin.

“Will they be failed in those subjects?”

He questioned, in the event the children were failed for not retaking the papers, whether parents could take action against the ministry, saying it was the ministry’s fault that the leaks occurred in the first place.

Magpie is joined by Parents Action Group for Education (PAGE) and Association of Parents and Individuals towards Revising the Education System (Aspires) in the call to the ministry to exempt pupils from having to retake the English, Maths and Tamil papers.

The Education Ministry announced pupils would have to retake the Mathematics and Tamil language papers on October 9. This is following the first two leaks which were discovered in the Science and English papers.

Students had already sat for the English paper when the leak was announced on September 11. They will now resit the paper and take the Science examination for the first time next Tuesday.

Both education ministers Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh have issued public apologies over the leaks and assured that the culprits will be brought to book.

So far, police have detained a total of 14 people, including 12 teachers, to assist in investigations and have recorded statements from 30 individuals – 19 teachers, eight officers from the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate (MES), an officer from a ministry, a journalist and an engineer.

The decision to hold the resit has outraged parents and students as well as education lobby groups who say students are upset at being made to retake the exam through no fault of theirs.

Mak said if the ministers were confident that those responsible would be arrested, then only those students linked to the culprits should have to resit the papers.

"I am sure they can narrow it down to the states, to the schools and to the individuals. Why make everyone suffer?" he said.

Two days ago, PAGE chair Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim called on the ministry to do away with the resit of the English, Maths and Tamil UPSR papers as it was causing unnecessary pressure on some half a million Year 6 pupils.

She said the decision by the MES to have students resit the papers had disregarded the circumstances and had failed to take into account the negative impact on the pupils.

"It is unacceptable to UPSR pupils and parents who have no choice, no say, and are forced to accept a resit of the papers due to the shortcomings of the MES and the greed of certain people," she added.

"We urge MES and the ministry to accept the UPSR papers that have been taken which are English, Mathematics and Tamil and have the pupils sit only for Science since they have yet to sit for the paper."

Today, she asked what would appear on the result slip if students chose not to retake the three papers.

"Will they be failed or will the score of the original test be used?"

She also added that even if a student did not sit the examination, or even failed, they would still go on to Form 1.

"Even if they fail, they all go to Form 1 anyway. It would not make a difference unlike the SPM and STPM," she said.

Shamsuddin Hamid, who is the founder of Aspires, said it was "disgusting" that the ministry ordered a resit without consulting stakeholders including parents and teachers.

"My daughter, who is in Year 6, is very angry and disappointed with the whole episode, simply because she thought she had done well in her Maths paper, which is not her best subject," he told The Malaysian Insider.

"For months before the exam, she would practise her Maths for two hours every day without fail and she was happy with how she did in the paper. She worked hard for it.

"And when she found out that she would have to resit the paper, she was very upset. She could not understand why she would have to do it again.”

Shamsuddin also said that if his daughter decides not to retake the examination, he would stand by her decision.

He called for Muhyiddin to resign, saying the leaks in the UPSR examination papers were on his shoulders.

"The emotional wellbeing of my children is more important than what Muhyiddin wants but he should take responsibility for this mess," he added.

However, sources told The Malaysian Insider that the MES would mark a student as "tidak hadir" (absent) if they chose not to resit the English, Maths and Tamil papers. The source said the answer sheet from the original sitting would not be marked.

- TMI