Glossary
1. Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR, English: Primary School
Evaluation Test)
- Taken by all Year Six Student (KS2/Year 6)
- Mandatory subjects are:
 Malay Language (Malay Comprehension)
 Malay Language (Malay Writing)
 Mathematics
 Science
 Chinese (Chinese Comprehension – Compulsory for Chinese
school students only)
 Chinese (Chinese Writing – Compulsory for Chinese school
students only)
 Tamil (Tamil Comprehension – Compulsory for Tamil school
students only)
 Tamil (Tamil Writing – Compulsory for Tamil school students only)
 Aptitude Test (Introduced in 2009)
2. Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR, English: Lower Secondary
Assessment)
- Taken by all Form Three Student (KS3/Year 9)
- Mandatory subjects are:
 Malay Language
 English Language
 Mathematics
 Science
 Geography
 History
 Living Skills
 Islamic Studies (mandatory for Muslim students, optional for
others)
- Optional subjects are:
 Arabic language
 Basic Arab Communication
 Chinese language
 Iban language
 Kadazandusun language
 Punjabi language
 Tamil language
- PMR examination will be abolished in 2014, and the Form Three students'
performance by that year would be tested through the School-Based
Assessment (SBA) or Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah (PBS) conducted
by the schools themselves.
3. Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah (PBS, English School-Based
Assessment SBA)
- Academic
 School Assessment (Pentaksiran Sekolah) – Responsibility held
by teacher.
 Formative – together during teaching and learning process
 Summative – at the end of each unit, term, month, and year
 Center Assessment (Pentaksiran Pusat) – Responsibility held
by school based on rules, guidelines, scoring and grading
scheme, etc. set by Examination Board (Lembaga Peperiksaan)
- Non Academic
 Sports, Co-curriculum and Physical Activity Assessment
(Pentaksiran Aktiviti Jasmani, Sukan dan Kokurikulum) –
Responsibility held by teacher to assess students’ involvement,
achievement, etc. in sports activity, co-curriculum and extracurriculum.
 Psychometric Assessment (Pentaksiran Psikometrik) –
Responsibility held by school or center to measure students’
innate ability and acquired ability, thinking skills, problem solving
skill, interest, tendency, attitude and personality. This
assessment will not be based on curriculum, and teaching and
learning process.
- PBS is launched in Primary education since 2011 and Secondary
education since 2012.
4. Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM, English: Malaysian Higher
School Certificate)
- a pre-university examination taken by students in Malaysia.
- one of the two major pre-university systems for admission to Malaysian
public universities. The other is a one-year matriculation programme
5. Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM, English: Malaysian Certificate of
Education):
- a national examination taken by all fifth-year secondary school students in
Malaysia.
- equivalent to the O-Level and is the second last public examination at the
secondary school level before the entry into a first bachelor degree course
at a university
- starting from 2013, History will become a must-pass subject in SPM.
- starting 2016, English will become a must-pass subject in SPM
6. Kurikulum Baru Sekolah Rendah (KBSR, English: New Primary School
Curriculum)
- first introduced in 1983, is being gradually replaced with KSSR starting
2011 with the Standard 1 students
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to satisfy the educational requirements of the Malaysian school-going child
by i) raising the literacy level of the pupil, ii) developing his/her cognitive
and thinking skills.
hopes to provide student with an all-rounded individual development which
will help him/her operate efficiently within the social structure of this
country.
see http://www.melta.org.my/ET/1990/main2.html for more information
7. Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah (KSSR, English: Primary School
Standard Curriculum):
- curriculum is pupil-centred with an emphasis on fun learning, critical and
creative thinking, reasoning skills, communication and ICT literacy
- based on six key areas — communication, spiritual attitude and values,
humanitarianism, literacy in science and technology, physical and
personal development — to produce holistic individuals.
- being introduced in stages since 2011 to replace KBSR
- see http://www.teo-education.com/teo/?cat=115 for more information
8. Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah (KBSM, English: Integrated
Curriculum For Secondary School)
- introduced in 1980 to build a well established curriculum for all secondary
schools, will be replaced with KSSM starting 2017
- aims to expand the individual potential as a whole, balance, and
integrated
- covers the intellectual, spiritual, emotion, and physical aspects to produce
a well-balanced, harmonious individual with good moral values
- covers the following subjects : Bahasa Malaysia, Mathematics, Science,
History, Geography, Art, PE, Living Skills, Moral and English. All the
subjects except English are taught in Bahasa Malaysia.
- Computer education, Mathematics club and science club are additional
enrichment subjects for the secondary classes.
- Students following the KBSM programme will sit for the Penilaian
Menengah Rendah (PMR) at Form 3 and the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia
(SPM) at Form 5.
9. Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Menengah (KSSM, English: Standard
Curriculum for Secondary Schools)
- will be introduced in 2017
- to embed a balanced set of knowledge and skills such as creative thinking,
innovation, problem-solving and leadership
- have a greater emphasis on problem-based and project-based work, a
streamlined set of subjects or themes, and formative assessments
- will also support an accelerated learning pathway for high-performing
students to complete Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) in four rather than five
years, and Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) in five rather than six
years.
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See http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/09/12/ministry-eyes-kssmkssr-launch-in-2017-muhyiddin/#ixzz2S3e7dNli for more information