Irrelevant questions in SPM paper

I SAT for the SPM History paper last month and was outraged by the type of questions in the paper which were more appropriate for Moral Studies.

The questions were not based on what we had learnt and neither were they part of the syllabus.

One such question was: How will Malaysia be remembered by future generations?

I believe that the answer that is expected would go along the lines of listing one of the nation’s great architectural structures, like the Petronas Twin Towers or the Penang Bridge, and then elaborating on them.

This question gave me the impression that the examiners had totally disregarded the syllabus and what the SPM candidates, had studied.

Another question touched on the “Hudaibiyah Agreement” between the Muslims and Arabs?

I believe it should have been left out.

While we must be encouraged to be analytical and creative in the way we think and answer exam questions, we were unprepared for such questions as all the time our teachers had drummed into us that the questions would be similar to those asked in previous years.

Most of our revision was based on understanding the facts and attempting the past years’ questions.

I was again aghast when yet another question touched on “how a negative lifestyle could impact a nation’s high moral values?”.

Was this a a relevant question in a History paper?

The questions made a mockery of the syllabus and the efforts we put in studying and memorising facts and dates.

Will the Malaysian Examination Syndicate explain the rationale behind some of these questions?

ALZERN
Via E-mail

The Star Online: 7 Disember 2008