Grades are not a stamp of finality
Professor Tan Sri Dato' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
Learning Curve: Perspective
New Sunday Times - 01-01-2012
WHILE the 2011 Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) results were the best in four years, the candidates will enjoy more successes if they keep the momentum they have acquired going.
Students from SM Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh, Perak rejoice over their PMR 2011 results.
But a mere 7.77 per cent (up 0.75 from 2010) obtained Grade A in all subjects.
You cannot help but wonder about the rest, more so the last 10 to 20 per cent of the cohort who seem to have slipped out of sight and out of mind too.
While the gap between the urban and rural students is said to be narrower, the performance index comparing the two (2.61 versus 2.90 respectively) shows a protracted battle yet to be won.
After all, only 4.28 per cent of rural students achieved Grade A in all subjects (up 0.33 from 2010) compared to their urban peers at 9.72 per cent (up 0.86 from 2010) -- more than double that of the former.
Interestingly enough, more scored Grade A in Mathematics, Science and English (yes, English!). Kudos, because these are core subjects, which employers will be looking for.
As The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and The Programme for International Student Assessment in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member nations are used to benchmark selected countries, last year's improvement in PMR results will augur well for Malaysia.
It must be pointed out that the less "marketable" subjects saw a decline in the number of As, notably that of national languages -- Bahasa Malaysia (dropped from 27.6 per cent in 2010 to 26.3) -- and vernacular languages such as Mandarin and Iban too.
Subjects like Islamic Studies also saw a drop; and my guess is that other civics-based subjects suffered the same fate though there is no mention of them at all.
It is as though non-science subjects -- History, Geography, Music, Art and Literature do not matter in the development of the human being, not just human capital.
What is the ultimate purpose of schools when only a few of the 17 subjects offered are celebrated and measured in a particular way?
If education is solely about "jobs" and "employment", then should we burden students with subjects that the employers could not care less about? Instead, if education is for the higher purpose of social cohesion and national identity, should we not set our evaluation tools differently, with emphasis on wide-ranging subjects as well?
We are back to the basic question: what is the ultimate purpose of education?
In the process of acquiring intelligence quotient (IQ) through the schooling system, most students fail to develop their emotional quotient and worse still, lose their inherent creativity.
This is now common knowledge but IQ is still allowed to dominate and considered the only supposedly reliable index of learning. It assumes that students who get superior examination results will be more successful after graduation.
We are neither made aware of nor do we realise that academic measurements are relative indicators of performance, which are only approximate at best.
They are not "yardsticks" like the measurements of the physical world. There is nothing definitive or permanent about such scores unlike a physical measure of tangible things.
Someone with 8As is not twice as clever as one with 4As. Grades are not a stamp of finality as they are based on the misconception that they are the end product of learning, rather than learning itself.
But this will only make sense if you fully comprehend that learning is larger than what is measured through the typical examinations; and that education encompasses life as we are beginning to discover but still finding it difficult to adjust to because we still do not know how!
In short, it is a system failure that makes many students its victims when it promotes the false reality that examination outcomes are the be-all and end- all of education!
Test results are not necessarily the only prerequisite for success in life. Until recently, the story of education has been the tale of humankind in search of meaning in life.
That said, let us celebrate the New Year while being mindful that we can navigate through life meaningfully as long as we stay imaginative and knowledge-sensitive!
Let us make a difference to the present education system this year.
You cannot help but wonder about the rest, more so the last 10 to 20 per cent of the cohort who seem to have slipped out of sight and out of mind too.
While the gap between the urban and rural students is said to be narrower, the performance index comparing the two (2.61 versus 2.90 respectively) shows a protracted battle yet to be won.
After all, only 4.28 per cent of rural students achieved Grade A in all subjects (up 0.33 from 2010) compared to their urban peers at 9.72 per cent (up 0.86 from 2010) -- more than double that of the former.
Interestingly enough, more scored Grade A in Mathematics, Science and English (yes, English!). Kudos, because these are core subjects, which employers will be looking for.
As The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and The Programme for International Student Assessment in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member nations are used to benchmark selected countries, last year's improvement in PMR results will augur well for Malaysia.
It must be pointed out that the less "marketable" subjects saw a decline in the number of As, notably that of national languages -- Bahasa Malaysia (dropped from 27.6 per cent in 2010 to 26.3) -- and vernacular languages such as Mandarin and Iban too.
Subjects like Islamic Studies also saw a drop; and my guess is that other civics-based subjects suffered the same fate though there is no mention of them at all.
It is as though non-science subjects -- History, Geography, Music, Art and Literature do not matter in the development of the human being, not just human capital.
What is the ultimate purpose of schools when only a few of the 17 subjects offered are celebrated and measured in a particular way?
If education is solely about "jobs" and "employment", then should we burden students with subjects that the employers could not care less about? Instead, if education is for the higher purpose of social cohesion and national identity, should we not set our evaluation tools differently, with emphasis on wide-ranging subjects as well?
We are back to the basic question: what is the ultimate purpose of education?
In the process of acquiring intelligence quotient (IQ) through the schooling system, most students fail to develop their emotional quotient and worse still, lose their inherent creativity.
This is now common knowledge but IQ is still allowed to dominate and considered the only supposedly reliable index of learning. It assumes that students who get superior examination results will be more successful after graduation.
We are neither made aware of nor do we realise that academic measurements are relative indicators of performance, which are only approximate at best.
They are not "yardsticks" like the measurements of the physical world. There is nothing definitive or permanent about such scores unlike a physical measure of tangible things.
Someone with 8As is not twice as clever as one with 4As. Grades are not a stamp of finality as they are based on the misconception that they are the end product of learning, rather than learning itself.
But this will only make sense if you fully comprehend that learning is larger than what is measured through the typical examinations; and that education encompasses life as we are beginning to discover but still finding it difficult to adjust to because we still do not know how!
In short, it is a system failure that makes many students its victims when it promotes the false reality that examination outcomes are the be-all and end- all of education!
Test results are not necessarily the only prerequisite for success in life. Until recently, the story of education has been the tale of humankind in search of meaning in life.
That said, let us celebrate the New Year while being mindful that we can navigate through life meaningfully as long as we stay imaginative and knowledge-sensitive!
Let us make a difference to the present education system this year.
- The writer is vice chancellor of the Albukhary International University