SCHOOL TESTS: Making them automatons

By: M.V., Alor Star

MY child, who is in Year 3, gets monthly tests in the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) format. It seems to me that schools are so anxious to improve their UPSR performance, they'll go to any lengths to "drill" their pupils into "UPSR automatons" without considering the damage they might be inflicting on young minds.

The mid-year Bahasa Malaysia 2 (Penulisan), for example, has a section on moral values. Children must have a good grasp of the language to be able to answer this type of questions. I hope the authorities give clear guidelines to schools for preparing school-based exams.

The New Strait Times Online: 7 Julai 2008