One-Session School System Within 5 To 10 Years - Muhyiddin
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v6/newsindex.php?id=700861
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 (Bernama) -- The one-session school system is expected to be fully implemented nationwide within the next five to 10 years, says Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Muhyiddin who is also Education Minister, said currently, less than 20 per cent of schools in the country were still practising the two-session school system.
He said since a long time ago, the government wanted to implement the single-session school system as it would be more conducive to learning, but classrooms needed to be increased and the shortage of teachers be resolved first.
"Increasing the number of classrooms has been difficult because in some places we did not expect a large increase in the number of students. Therefore, two sessions, morning and afternoon, were required," he said after looking at the conducting of the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examination at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Gombak Setia, here, today.
Muhyiddin said implementation of the one-session school was important as the time could be extended by one of two hours for Mathematics, Science or English.
"This can be easily done as the students don't need to go home early like what happens at the private schools. Co-curricular activities can also be carried out in the afternoon with the one-session school system."
Muhyiddin said the preliminary report of the National Education Blueprint 2013-2025 also targeted full implementaton of the one-session school system if a huge allocation was made available.
In another development, he said the PMR examination would be abolished in 2014, and Form Three students' performance would be tested through the School-Based Assessment (SBA) conducted by the schools themselves.
"But the SBA will still be monitored by the Examination Board to ensure the examination questions are of quality and can really gauge the students' achievements.
"This measure will also enable parents to obtain the latest information on their children's academic performance," he said.
Muhyiddin said with the PMR gone, there would only be two main public examinations, namely the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) at the primary level and the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination at the secondary level.
He also said that the intake of Form Four students for the fully residential schools and Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) would still go on although the PMR would be abolished in 2014.
"Excellent students from poor families will be given priority to go to these schools and this has been the case since last year," he said.
A total of 481,424 candidates are sitting for the PMR at 3,560 examination centres nationwide since Monday and it will end on Oct 16.
-- BERNAMA
