Basic Assessment In Year Four Supports Education Reform
By Mohd Yusof Saari
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 26 (Bernama) -- The implementation of a basic assessment in Year Four is seen as a crucial policy reform to strengthen literacy and numeracy among primary school students, especially in the education landscape after the abolition of the Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR).
Universiti Malaysia Terengganu Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student Affairs and Alumni) Assoc. Prof. Dr Mohd Izani Mohd Zain said the assessment should function as a diagnostic mechanism to identify students’ learning weaknesses at an earlier stage, allowing for more targeted and data-driven intervention plans.
He said that following the abolition of the UPSR, the education system requires a standardised mechanism that can provide a clear picture of students’ foundational mastery before they progress to more complex learning stages.
“In my view, assessments are necessary so that we can accurately gauge students’ actual mastery levels. However, thorough preparation and the involvement of all stakeholders must be undertaken so that students and parents clearly understand the true purpose of this assessment,” he told Bernama.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, when tabling the National Education Blueprint (RPN) 2026–2035 last Tuesday, announced that Year Four learning assessments would be implemented starting in 2026, covering four core subjects: Bahasa Melayu, English, Mathematics, and Science.
On Saturday, he emphasised that the initiative aims to identify weaknesses in reading, writing and arithmetic (3M) skills to enable early intervention and remediation before students transition to secondary school.
Mohd Izani said the basic assessment should first be implemented on a pilot basis, with schools selected from both urban and rural areas to ensure that challenges, readiness levels and implementation issues can be comprehensively identified.
He also highlighted the importance of teacher and school readiness, stressing that the assessment should not be perceived as a source of pressure but as a tool to support students’ learning development.
“What matters most is that this assessment should not be seen as a burden, but as a learning support instrument to help students develop holistically,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Muslim Teachers’ Association (iGuru) president Mohd Azizee Hasan said the proposal aligns with the need for learning recovery, particularly in addressing post-COVID-19 learning losses and achievement gaps between schools and regions.
However, he cautioned that the assessment should not be implemented hastily or in an exam-oriented manner, but rather understood as a diagnostic educational tool, not a mechanism to penalise students, teachers or schools.
“Through this basic assessment, valid data can be collected to enable the Ministry of Education to plan focused recovery programmes, identify urban-rural disparities, and, if implemented with a supportive approach, strengthen parents’ confidence in schools’ systematic efforts to address literacy and numeracy challenges,” he said.
Mohd Azizee also agreed on the need for a pilot project to test the suitability of assessment instruments across diverse student backgrounds, evaluate the impact on teacher workload, and ensure school readiness in terms of manpower and intervention support.
Without a pilot project, he warned, the assessment risks becoming an additional administrative burden without delivering meaningful remedial outcomes.
He further stressed that assessment results should not be used to evaluate teacher or school performance, but instead serve as a basis for planning interventions, professional development, and more equitable resource distribution.
“iGuru supports initiatives to strengthen student literacy and numeracy, but emphasises that the success of this policy lies not in assessment alone, but in the education system’s capacity to comprehensively support both students and teachers,” he said.
-- BERNAMA
