by RAHIMI YUNUS / pic by TMR FILE

THE Education Ministry (MoE) is investigating the allegation of a teacher making rape jokes in class.

Senior Minister (Education) Datuk Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin (picture) said the MoE, taking the matter seriously, is prepared to take stern action against the teacher if the case is proven.

“We cannot tolerate things like this. The MoE is doing a detailed investigation although it has become a police case. We want to know the real situation and if there is a case, we will take a stern action against the perpetrator,” Mohd Radzi said in a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

A female teenager recently reported on social media that her teacher made inappropriate jokes about rape in class and her story went viral.

Several police reports have been lodged against the teacher.

On a separate matter, Mohd Radzi announced that the government has abolished the Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) and cancelled the Form Three Assessment (PT3) examination for the 2021 academic calendar.

He said the MoE had conducted engagement sessions with headmasters, teachers, parent-teacher associations, students, related unions and associations nationwide before deciding to scrap UPSR.

He further said school-based assessments (PBS) will be enhanced in place of UPSR starting this year.

“There will be methods that we will explain to teachers. No examination will replace UPSR,” he said.

Similarly, he said the PBS will be used to evaluate PT3 students this year following the cancellation though the concept of examination will remain in the education system, unlike UPSR.

He said the PBS is more comprehensive to assess students’ capabilities compared to UPSR, given the fact that teachers understand their students better and can effectively intervene according to the students’ needs.

The minister said assessment of special school admissions, also known as PKSK, will be applied to evaluate students’ entry into boarding schools for Form 1 and Form 4.

On the issue of Covid-19 education clusters, Mohd Radzi said the MoE has requested the Health Ministry to separate the cases involving schools from the statistics that are currently combined with higher educational institutions and other types of institutions that are not under the ministry’s purview.