Assessment (Do you prefer Exams?)

From the 1st - 15th September 2006, I was practically running at the office because on the night of 15th September my organization had a 'malam anugerah' kind of function, and the VVIP was the Minister of Education. Well, nothing like Anugerah Skrin or Anugerah Era, it was an award for Tokoh Pentaksiran Pendidikan (award to people who have contributed a lot to assessment - assessment in education). Does anyone out there realize about the changes in exams/assessment that we went through? Remember the Penilaian Darjah Lima --> UPSR, Lower Certificate of Education --> SRP --> PMR, etc.? BTW, I was the last batch of students who sat for the MCE; yes, I did Maths and the pure Sciences in English.

Last week, from the 18 - 22nd Sept 2006, I was a participant of a workshop on School-Based Assessment (SBA) in Melaka. The Min of Edu (MOE) is presently revisiting assessment (past, present, future) so that we can make our children view assessment as a means to improve their learning. (Graphically: Teaching&Learning --> Assessment --> Improve on Teaching&Learning to make education enjoyable and ultimately children learn). MOE wants to educate/inform its stake holders that assessment (what public know as EXAMS) is to let children know what knowledge they have acquired and how to be better at it (improve their knowledge, skills, abilities).

I hope parents out there will write some positive feedback / comments regarding assessment (loosely, exams) in Malaysia. Write something that may help the society / help our nation, not just criticize the system.

Lastly, a reminder to me and those reading this entry: Observe the holy month of Ramadhan as it should be observed.