Where are the report cards? OF LATE there has been a great deal of discussion on improving our education system. One area of concern is our school examination system. We have many exams in a year the monthly, formative, term and year-end examinations. Then of course there are the major public examinations, the UPSR, PMR, SPM and STPM and not to forget their trial and pre-trial examinations as well. Teachers should be commended for the great pains they take to prepare not only the questions papers but the students as well for these examinations. What is disturbing is that despite the numerous examinations to which our children are subjected, their results are not revealed. My child is already into the second semester of 2007 (seven months into the year) but we have yet to receive a report card of their results. The end of term and especially the end of the year examinations are held during the last 2-3 weeks before the long holidays but the results are never announced and completely forgotten when the school reopens after the holidays. To make matters worse, even the question papers and answer sheets are not given as they are treated as secret documents. Children are only too happy to enjoy their holidays, despite having done poorly in their examination, knowing their parents will never know the results. If only the results are known before the holidays, it would help us to ensure our children brush up on their weaknesses. Examinations are there to gauge the strength and weakness of the students. It provides an opportunity for weaknesses to be rectified before the final examinations. If the results are not revealed and if students are denied access to the question papers and answer sheets how can they conduct a meaningful analysis into their performance of the examination? DR CHRIS ANTHONY, Butterworth.
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