BANGI: The Education Ministry is seeking views from the public on whether exams from Years One to Three should be abolished to move away from an exam-oriented system.

Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching said the ministry wanted feedback from the ground before making any decision.

“Everyone are welcomed to give their opinion by filling up the form available online.

“Your opinion will allow us to better understand if abolishing exams for pupils in Years One to Three is a good plan,” she said after closing an Entrepreneurial Leaders Programme here yesterday.

Teo said the ministry needed to know if the people were ready for the move.

“If exams are abolished, schools can conduct their own long-term assessment on pupils,” she added.

Raymond Dairiam, a father of two, agreed with the idea of doing away with written exams during the first three years of schooling.

“At this age, focus should be more on character building rather than what they can remember,” he said.

He said the current examination model was suited for those with strong memorising skills and did not focus on developing a critical mind.

“If you load a Year One pupil with endless homework, they are going to hate going to school,” Dairiam added.

He said this was the age where schools should incorporate more outdoor activities for children rather than have them sit in a classroom for six to seven hours.

Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim cautioned that teachers should be ready to cope with the (proposed) change.

“Our teachers are not the same as teachers in Finland who are ready for this kind of system,” she added.

She said more details were needed such as what would be used to assess the pupils and how parents can be assured that their children are learning.

National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Harry Tan said they support the move.

“Our job is to teach and assess the pupils as and when they are taught the skills,” he said, adding that school should be fun for the children.

The public have from today until Aug 31 to fill up the questionnaire.

The form is available on http://bit.ly/formal_ibubapa for parents and members of the public, while teachers can access http://bit.ly/formal_guru.