Education: Sleepless over paperwork

I WAS discussing with my staff the letters I came across in the press that highlighted teachers' grievances with regards to the new online School-Based Assessment (SPPBS) and the ordeal they had to go through keying in each and every pupil's evaluation in the wee hours of the morning.

One of the teachers pointed out that the social networking media, such as Facebook, has millions of people connecting with each other all over the world; they upload and post comments, images and videos every now and then but the system thrives and doesn't crash or hang.

Her remarks make sense. But the SPPBS system is causing sleepless nights and torment to school educators.

If the Education Ministry wants the system to be in place, the least it could have done was to ensure that it worked smoothly at trial runs before it is implemented nationwide.

Anything that looks good on paper has to be tested and practised to see results.

It is easy to say that it is an entirely new system and educators have to bear with the hassles initially.

Teachers teaching the Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah classes in the primary schools are already bogged down with endless paperwork. I truly empathise with them.

Those making plans in their ivory towers can plan all they want, but the the people implementing them at schools are nervous wrecks.