KUCHING, Nov 1 ― Sarawak is steadfast in creating its own assessment system, resembling the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examination, for Year 6 pupils in all government schools in the state.

In stating this, Minister for Education, Innovation and Talent Development Sarawak Datuk Seri Roland Sagah Wee Inn says efforts will be undertaken to realise this plan.

"This matter depends on the federal policy. However for us in Sarawak, we will make efforts to have our own assessment system.

"This is because we believe that is the only way for us to know our pupils’ true performance,” he told reporters after officiating at the International Education Research and Innovation Conference 2023 (iCERI2023) in the Teachers Education Institute (IPG) Tun Abdul Razak Campus in Kota Samarahan yesterday.

Sagah said this matter was crucial for determining whether the pupils should be placed in the Science or Arts streams, adding that it would be more challenging if they were randomly placed in the streams that they were not familiar with.

"Let the federal government stick to its policy, but at the same time, let the state carry out its own assessment system,” he added.

Meanwhile, Sagah said his ministry had yet to receive any action plan related to the new 2027 school curriculum development by the federal Ministry of Education (MoE).

However, he acknowledged that the federal government had conducted a nationwide Education Exploration Tour to gather opinions about and input for the plan.

"I think what the federal government is doing is conducting surveys to gather public opinions.

"Personally, I haven’t seen the proposed curriculum action plan, so I have no comments ― to be fair, I cannot comment on something that I haven’t seen,” he said.

Previously, federal Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek stated that UPSR would not be reinstated, even though there were specific requests from parents who wanted it to be brought back as a benchmark for their children’s achievements.

She said for now, the MoE’s effort would be focused on the ‘Survey of the Implementation of the 2027 School Curriculum’ to develop a new school curriculum to ensure a stronger future for the nation’s education.

Fadhlina added that parents were encouraged to focus on her ministry’s efforts of conducting tours and outreach activities regarding this new curriculum.

This matter was also one of the proposals by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who mentioned it during his tabling of Budget 2024. ― Borneo Post