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Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Should form 6 examination be replaced with a better pre-u examination?

Age: 18
Location:Butterworth,Pulau Pinang,Malaysia.
Current school: SMK St.Mark
Qualification: lower 6 student
Hobby: travel,play computer game,read book and listen to music

Should form 6 examination be replaced with a better pre-u examination?


by Ang Meow Ning for Writing Contest 2008

In today's competitive world where a good education is fundamental to success.Many parents would persuade their children to go for tertiary education although some of them resist to continue to study.Though Malaysia now boasts of a heap number of universities,there are still limited number of places for form 6 students whereas matriculation students are more qualified to enter local university.In my opinion,i agree with the above statement that in order for every student to get chance to enter local unversity,it is vital for form 6 examination be replaced with a better Pre-U examination to meet the standards of international tertiary level such as A-level,South Australian Maticulation(SAM) or other international foundation programmes.There are some changes that should be made on the form 6 that are better Pre-U are study period,schooling system,abolish spoon-feed learning and toughness of examination.

The first challenge that should be made on the form 6 result to better Pre-U is the study period.In Malaysia,there are two main feeder programmes or pathways to enter local universities are the form 6 and the matriculation.The study period of form 6 is same as secondary school nowadays whereas the study period of matriculation is long,starting from 8am until 5pm,In my opinion,an international standard Pre-U study period should not be as long as 24 hours,the maximum should be around 3 to 4 hours per day,students are not a robot and they need rest too.Besides,their mind may become tired if they study long hours and sleepy.Club activities or exercise should be cultivated by every Pre-U students to have a healthy body and clearer mind.For example,a student who fall sick will be unable to attend class due to tension in studies and fewer will lag behind compared to other students.

Furthermore,schooling system for a better Pre-U should be revamped to produce more knowledgeable and intellegent students.Form 6 practises terminal examination system whereas matriculation was the modular system.What does terminal examination and modular examination mean?A terminal examination is held at the end of the study period whereas modular examination is conducted throughout the programme.To produce knowledgeable angd intellegent students,terminal examination should be used in Pre-U courses.There are many pros than cons for terminal examination.Students will be able to revise easily for the first year in the university and have stronger memories.Besides these,teachers should encourage students to do more research so that they will be able to catch up with the latest news.For example,a student will be unable to answer exam questions due to lack of knowing latest news and information.

In addition,to form a better Pre-U satndard,spoon-fed learning should be abolished.Pre-U students should be more independent,diligent and preserver in their studies,they should be able to manage their timetable well if compared to primary school students,their mind has not fully developed.How spoon-fe learning can be abolished?When a teacher gives a question and students are unable to answer,the teacher should not give out the answers instead of giving the answers immediately.By this way,students will not be spoon-fed.For example,when a student enters into the university,they would be able to complete the assignment requested by their own effort and not waiting to be spoon-fed by the lecturer.
Other than that,Pre-U courses should come up with a tough examination system so that it can stand still with other private Pre-U and the quality of Pre-U will be respected by malaysians or even foreigners.Therefore,the Pre-U examination format should be reformated to make it tougher.This will produce more challenges and competitive among the students in order to catch up when they are in their firsr year in the university.For example,medical students would find theis courses interesting and easier when come to first year in university.

In conclusion,form 6 examination should be replaced with a better Pre-U examination by shortening the study period,terminal schooling system is made,abolishment spoon-fed learning and increasing the level of difficulties in examination.Allof thesewill be able to prepare Pre-U students to take challenges with confidence and independence.
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Comments
6 Comments

6 comments:

  1. i totally agree wit u..yeah..seems like matrixian have better oppurtinity than us.of course im a form 6 student 2..
    form 6 student always tight with school rules oso sometimes treat us like a child..
    pre-u test should exist and test for form 6 student really must make it easier..gov should do something to improve or upgrade form 6..
    but i know..by the time we finish form 6..then gov. will only start take action.always like that la..

    anyway..nice article thou..really2 and totally true with ur opinion..could'nt agree more..

    ReplyDelete
  2. I believe the government should abolish the matriculation test rather than replacing stpm. it is because stpm offers more quality education compared to matriculation.

    I had to struggle a lot and put enormous hard work throughout my form 6 life.(I am in Upper Six now)

    The teachers will not always spoonfeed you. But they will help you to clear your minds. From my opinion, STPM is most quality examination that is offered by the local government.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The Form 6 examination itself in my opinion is already one of the toughest exams in the world. With the vast amount of syllabus to cover in less than 1.5years, the only way to score is of course to study consistently.

    However, the need is not to change the exam, but rather is to get a better recognition in local universities for STPM examination.

    I myself is an ex-STPM student and I can honestly say that the life was equal to hell. I recommend students to go for Form6 (science subjects) if they really wanna know what is True Hardships and wanna enrol into overseas universities.

    Please take note it's overseas unis, not local.. if you wanna go for local, be prepared to get the courses that are not your liking.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I must comment on your essay on the replacement the form 6 examination or the STPM with another pre-u examination. Being a form 6 student myself, I cannot help to differ some of your opinions though they might be reasonable.

    First of all, you've got your facts. KUDOS to you! Nevertheless, you suggested that this exam should be revamped if not abolished. True, the exam should be made harder as it used to be 20 years ago when it was known as the HSC examination but it is still hard till today, as you hardly find a school of scorers compared to those who achieve strings of A's in the SPM. Infact, the toughness of the examination will prod students to be more competitive and work harder to mould themselves to suit the man-eat-man world. Yet,we have to take into consideration the rural students who may not be as advanced as the urban students of Malaysia. Did you know that only 3 to 4% of form 6 students nationwide score an A in Chemistry? Well that fact is blatantly true. So what can you say about this exam? It is hard. All exams are.

    Next we have the issue of spoon feeding. Many students basicly blindly memorise and regurgitate their facts onto an exam paper where the questions and answers are imprinted at the back of their heads! But if you do that for the STPM, you are just digging your own grave. Trust me it does not work. The teachers who teach form 6 are as experienced and qualified as any A-level teacher if not better. In my school spoon-feeding is definitely not in their dictionary. My teachers diligently work to ensure the best for their students, but we have to work because they are not sitting the exam we are. Them working hard to teach and guide us should not be perceived as spoon-feeding. There's a lot of difference. Spoon-feeding would mean that basically they do teach but read notes for you to write, give you exercises with answers, give you practicals results and giving you the exact way and answers for your projects and assignments. I am afraid there is no such thing in Form 6. The danger of this exam is not the studying or understanding or the comprehension of the syllabus but actually a place in a local varsity. If you do not achieve a CGPA of 4.0 that does not mean that you are able to pursue a course in Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentistry. But the same goes for A-levels, which is worst because you will not at all be accepted in any Malaysian universities. If you do not get your A's varsities overseas are very unlikely to accept you unless of course you've got cash to splurge.

    Now we come to studying hours of the pre-u courses. I doubt students would gain sufficient knowledge if the school or college only taught for about 3 to 4 hours. You might probably be an intellectual but even Einstein needed time to chew and digest all his meals. That proposed period is absolutely absurd! I think the time of 8 to 5 is quite sufficient. Besides, that will to teach students to manage their time adequately and also enable multi-tasking. Besides, that will be a stepping stone towards the odd and probably learning lessons in universities and also the working hours when we start working. Of course we are not robots but we are humans with an amazing noggin!

    Whatever said and done this exam should not be changed to another pre-u exam becuse the process throughout the period of form 6 is actually priceless. Trust me form 6 students come out of school finely moulded and transformed compared to college or matriculation students. Well I will leave that for you to experience. I do not want to nag you but as I am able to accept your views and opinions about the form 6 exam you should be mature enough to accept mine. I mean if you really want this exam to be changed don't just complain and char (very Malaysian) this exam but suggest ways on how the exam should be changed and what are the procedures involved to carry out the exam, the teaching syllabus and so forth. I mean if you are clueless than it would be of no point. Think about it, all the pre-u exams that u stated are not ideal enough for you. So are you going to quit and not continue your tertiary learning? Then you only have room for SAM, AUSMAT, ICPU,Foundation and Diploma courses. The question is WHAT THE HELL are you doing in form 6? Do something else or just accept yourself in form 6. hahahahahahaha! Ciao! wISH you the best in all your future endeavours! whatever you do just be yourself.

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  5. Terminal exams are not necessarily better than modular exams, just tougher. From what I have gathered, local universities prefer STPM students than to matriculation's because STPM students are trained to be independent. Besides, STPM is recognized by many universities whereas our local matriculation is not. Thus, I think that the matriculation should be changed instead of the STPM.

    Spoon-feeding. As I have said, STPM students are more independent. But the problem does not lie in STPM. The problem started long before STPM. Students should be trained to get information themselves from young!

    Study hours. STPM students have to cover 2 volumes of books, which is equivalent to at least 20 chapters for Biology and Maths, 3 volumes for Chemistry, and a lot of practice and exercise from Pengajian Am. Not to mention the practices required for MUET. 3 to 4 hours per day is much too little for students to cover such vast syllabus.

    STPM is already one of the toughest examinations in the world. Matriculation is too lenient.

    ReplyDelete
  6. i wonder the writer did study STPM or not??

    An ex-STPM student would never agree on abolishing or replacing form 6 examination.

    Matriculation exam in malaysia is nothing...if fact, the lecturers gives tips on what is coming out or bocor soalan..that is spoon feed !!!
    what kind of exam is that to test a person knowledge and intelligence??

    as far as i know, our STPM is equivalent to japan , hong kong or south korea's pre-u examination..

    only i would suggest is that the tendency for the exams to be more-like creative-thinking to be intensified as time goes by.

    this is what most overseas ppl said our stpm is so methodology than creative thinking??

    beats me.

    ReplyDelete

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