(Oct 28): The Education Ministry today denied that Putrajaya had made U-turns on a series of policy decisions in the National Education Blueprint which was expected to be rolled out next year.

Director-general of education Datuk Seri Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof said the policies raised by DAP’s federal lawmaker Zairil Khir Johari had been merely deferred to give schools time to better prepare their facilities.

“We have not reversed the policy.

“It is based on the ability to implement within a suitable time frame,” Khair said at a press conference in Shah Alam today.

He said the UPSR exam would continue, as well as the school-based assessment system along with other activities such as sports.

Two days ago, Zairil said among the reversals were the rescinding of an earlier directive to have 40% of questions in the UPSR (Year 6) examinations derived from school-based assessments.

“This means UPSR will continue to be a 100% written, central examination,” the Bukit Bendera MP said.

He also said practical tests for Science subjects in UPSR and SPM beginning 2015 had been put off.

Another flip-flop, Zairil added, was the postponement of English as a compulsory pass subject in SPM by 2016.

He said this was to the dismay of many parents and education activists, particularly in the light of Malaysia’s poor proficiency in English.

“The blueprint itself identified this weakness as among ‘the top five issues facing Malaysian employers’.” – The Malaysian Insider