Freida Pilus, who started the Cempaka group of schools 35 years ago, said exams were important because they measured outcomes.

According to Freida, exams are often snubbed by both parents and students for giving them stress. However, the 71-year-old said that learning requires that students be constantly assessed at all levels.

“What are exams? It’s a form of measurement for the outcome of how you achieve your objectives. If you say no exams for standards one to three, first I want to know what do you expect from pupils?

“What are your objectives, strategies and plans to bring about outcomes after trying to meet your goals and objectives? Surely you need to measure this. How will you do this?” Freida asked.

Education Minister Maszlee Malik said the decision to scrap exams in lower primary schools was to restore the spirit and principles of the 2011 School-Based Assessment system, but did not explain more.

FMT previously quoted parents of primary school students and teachers as saying they were concerned about the lack of details in the new system.

Nevertheless, Freida welcomed Maszlee’s decision, saying assessments must be retained, exam or no exam, but that examinations must evolve to remain useful and relevant for students.

Freida told FMT in an interview that students in her school, or Cempakans as she fondly refers to them, had been assessed by exams from 1983 when her first school opened, all the way up to secondary school.

At kindergarten level and in years one to three, she said, Cempakans in all its three campuses had a midterm and final examination, while in secondary school students had these tests and topical tests as well.

“Even when we teach them swimming there is an assessment,” she said, adding that Cempakans, who learn swimming from 18 months up, must learn and master skills such as water survival and safety.

“What do you teach those in standards one to three? You teach them to read, write and do arithmetic. Reading is a big thing so don’t you think you have to gauge whether they can read?

“Exams offer us valuable insights into a student’s progress in acquiring and evaluating knowledge. In addition, the tests, per se, require students to acquire skills in time and work management,” she said.

Students must learn on their own how to work around deadlines and not to procrastinate through trial and error, she said.

When asked how her students fared after completing their education, which comprised both theoretical and practical assessments, Freida said they did “quite well”, with most excelling in their careers and studies.

She also said parents had a role to play in ensuring students wanted to study.

“Children are curiosity driven. If you don’t develop that among children, what do you do? A carrot and a stick kind of motivation? If you sit for an exam and get an A then it’s OK but no exam so don’t work on that?

“They should be able to experience the joy of learning at school. We should develop a curiosity-driven environment and school is a training ground for life. We need to inculcate the love for learning in children”.

On concerns that exams were stressful, Freida said it was a matter of not knowing how to manage one’s time properly. Teachers and principals must also be trained to teach their students this, she said.

Freida, whose schools are not affected by the decision to scrap exams in lower primary schools, urged the education ministry to reveal more details, saying teachers had yet to be briefed about it.

“What will happen to the children if there is no assessment? We must be careful. 10,000 schools and some principals can’t be bothered (to see this through) and in the end, some students can’t read or write.

“Has there been a study to find out why? Many children who go to school, who spend 16 years altogether studying from primary school to university, graduate and cannot speak English.

“We should not throw the baby out with the bathwater,” she said.

Focus on school-based evaluations

Meanwhile, educationist Zakaria Kasa, formerly of the National Professors Council, welcomed the move, saying Finland, long considered for having a stellar education system, has such a system.

“We have the school-based assessments and this should be the way we evaluate our students’ performance. However, many parents still want exams so we abolished PMR and introduced PT3.

“Why don’t we just focus on school-based evaluations and improve on it if there are any weaknesses? All the subjects in school at all levels should be school-based assessments,” the retired academician told FMT.

Prior to the implementation of the PT3 in 2013, Form 3 students sat for the Penilaian Menengah Rendah. PT3 now sees some subjects being assessed through projects, field study and assignments.

But Zakaria added that now with only the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination for Form 5 left in the national education system, PT3 was considered another form of public exam but not wholly practical.

“Evaluation is good to show the students’ performance, but in what form? Should it be criterion or norm-based? Should we look at each student’s own performance (school-based) or compare it with other students (the norm)?” he asked.