Poor Kids.... UPSR More Papers to Sit

They're adding an Aptitude Test to UPSR, and the announcement came just slightly over 30 days before the actual exam... you've got to be amazed by the 'ad-hocness' of our ministry people. Poor kids! They're going to have one extra on their hands.... I am amazed at how our authorities can make a decision of this magnitude so close to the eleventh hour. It's like this was supposed to have been announced way earlier but somebody forgot about it.. then last minute it was remembered... and the announcement. Marvelous, isn't it, this bolehness of Bolehland? Can't they wait till next year. The haste this has been handled obviously demonstrated a lack of capability and intelligence of the Education Ministry.

On the last day of the UPSR this year, all Year 6 students have to sit for this test.... it's basically an IQ test. This means the students from vernacular school will sit for 8 papers. It'll be 6 for the national schools. Grades don't count but it'll be reflected on the result slip. If grades don't count then why put it on the result slip? And just a matter of time before another scramble begins from the parents once they understand the importance of this additional paper.

UPSR is the basis of selection for a place in boarding schools and I suspect they're finding it more and more difficult to find the right candidates, now that we get straight-A students at a dime a dozen.

And soon tuition operators will be smiling even wider... and thanking the gods for sending more business their way. Hey! We'll be having tuition classes for the subject called 'aptitude'. LOL!

There simply too many straight A-students now. And we're finding it difficult to tell the really good ones apart in this sea of straight-As. There is another group, with language deficiencies, which has been pushed to oblivion by the first group... this group hardly gets much attention, what more opportunities. They don't score straights cos of their 'language deficiencies' but they are very good in other areas. But these days, if you don't have straight As, it's kinda difficult to get noticed. And these kids sort of just drift around, sometimes getting swallowed by the straight A(s). Aptitude tests would be good for this particular group actually cos maybe they will be recognize for a particular aptitude that they have and be groomed because of that.

Anyway... I think we are going about it the wrong way in our education system. We should concentrating on the basic skills at primary level... reading, writing, arithmetic and perhaps induce a little creative thinking skills also. Right now, I get so many students who can't even write (as in handwriting) properly let alone construct proper sentences.... now something must be wrong when they can't do that, right?