KUALA LUMPUR: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia education expert Dr Anuar Ahmad said examinations themselves do not create “parrots”, adding that it is the way questions are framed and the approach of the education system to assessments that shape learning outcomes.
He was responding to a news report quoting Education director-general Dr Mohd Azam Ahmad, who said reinstating major examinations in schools could produce a generation of “parrots”.
Mohd Azam was reported by a Malay daily as saying an overreliance on exam results to measure student progress would create learners who could only repeat information without truly understanding or applying what they have learned.
Anuar added that poorly designed questions, which merely test memory recall, inevitably encourage rote learning.
“If questions are only at a low level that requires students to memorise facts, ‘parrots’ would be the outcome.
“But if the questions require higher-order thinking, such as analysing, problem-solving, evaluating and creating ideas, exams would never produce ‘parrots’.”
He also called for a cultural shift in how examinations are perceived.
“We must stop encouraging repetitive drills and memorising past-year or forecast answers.
“Competing over which school, district or state performs best only fuels the misconception that exams harm students emotionally.”
He added that even continuous assessment could suffer the same fate if competitive pressures persist.
“It is not the fault of examinations but our mindset about their purpose.
“We must correct our perspective. Exams are not tools for schools to compete over who is the best.”
He also said efforts should focus on improving the quality and standard of exam questions to encourage students to think critically and creatively, rather than memorise texts.
Anuar said many countries, including Singapore and other advanced education systems, continue to uphold examinations as part of their assessment approach.
“In Singapore, the Primary School Leaving Examination, equivalent to Malaysia’s former Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR), remains in place and was even updated in 2024.
“Do they produce ‘parrots’? Even the IGCSE and A-Level are examination-based. At university level, including world-class institutions, exams are still practised.
“Students must write answers with their own understanding, not even ChatGPT can help them. So, do these great universities that still hold examinations also produce ‘parrots’?”
The UPSR and PT3 examinations, long considered key milestones in Malaysia’s education system, were abolished in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
The move, announced by then Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin, marked a major shift away from the country’s exam-oriented culture towards a more holistic, classroom-based assessment approach known as Pentaksiran Bilik Darjah.
Before their abolition, the UPSR served as the national examination for Year Six pupils, while PT3 was taken by Form Three students to determine academic placement in upper secondary school.
Their removal has since sparked ongoing debate over how student progress should best be measured, whether through continuous assessment, centralised exams or a balanced combination of both.
