Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Photo: SHAHNAZ FAZLIE/Pejabat Perdana Menteri

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By DayakDaily Team

KUCHING, Jan 27: Children aged six will no longer be required to undergo a diagnostic screening test to determine their eligibility to enter Year One, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced today.

He said the decision was made following a policy review by the Ministry of Education (MOE), which found that the screening could be discriminatory and psychologically harmful to children.

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“After reviewing this policy, the MOE proposed that the diagnostic screening not be implemented,” Anwar said during ministers’ question time in the Dewan Rakyat, as quoted by Free Malaysia Today.

“We are of the view that it could be discriminatory if certain children are deemed unfit, and this may have psychological effects on them.

“Therefore, it has been decided that the assessment will not be carried out, and I agree with that decision,” he added.

Anwar was responding to a supplementary question from Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muda), who raised concerns over the need to review the diagnostic screening test, as children who fail it would have their entry into Year One delayed by a year.

Syed Saddiq also highlighted warnings from Unesco against implementing screening tests that separate slower learners from their faster-learning peers at an early age.

According to the report, more than 130 countries enrol children into Year One at the age of six. — DayakDaily