PETALING JAYA: DAP today urged the Education Ministry to revoke all disciplinary action against Suara Guru Masyarakat Malaysia (SGMM) members, a teacher’s pressure group campaigning against the controversial School-Based Assessment (SBA).
In a statement today, DAP Supremo Lim Kit Siang said that with the suspension of the SBA, the transfer order for SGMM chief Mohd Nor Izzat Mohd Johari and his comrades should be immediately withdrawn.
“The heavy-handed response by the Education Ministry to penalise Nor Izzat and teachers who have come forward to criticise the SBA is totally uncalled for and unjustifiable. It must be deplored as a very mean and cowardly manner to suppress legitimate criticism in the education service,” said Lim.
Lim, who is also the DAP parliamentary leader said that Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin should step in and handle the matter.
“Muhyiddin Yassin should give this issue his personal attention to ensure that all disciplinary action against Nor Izzat and the teachers who had criticised the SBA be revoked immediately,” he stressed.
He added that the SBA forced teachers to divert attention from their main job and they had to work in their personal time.
“The SBA fiasco is transforming teachers into data entry clerks, forcing teachers to get up at 2 am just to input student’s grades into the system because of online network problems, this is an expensive lesson in the so-called educational transformation of the country,” he added.
The Gelang Patah MP also suggested that SGMM be included in the evaluation of the SBA.
“Nor Izzat and all the teachers who had come forward to criticise the SBA should be invited by the Education Ministry to participate in the evaluation of the SBA to date.
“The SBA woe is a reflection of the pitfalls and disasters awaiting the so-called educational transformation in the country, based on an educational blueprint outsourced to highly-paid foreign consultants instead of being a product of local educational experts,” he said, adding that Muhyiddin should give a full report on the SBA fiasco and disaster to the parliament, next month.
Izzat, a teacher in Jerantut, was ordered to be transferred to a rural area school in Pahang.
SBA, which was implemented in 2011 has now been put on hold by the Education Ministry until further notice.
According to it’s Education director-general Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof, the Education Ministry would only announce the results of the SBA review after Muhyiddin Yassin is satisfied with the proposed improvements, without giving any time-frame as to when the exercise would be completed.