KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - The primary school system will move towards a less examination-focused environment from 2010. Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the ministry was in the midst of re-assessing the primary school system to steer children towards critical thinking and innovation.

"We have identified test schools for the purpose where we will have psychometric and aptitude tests and assessment in the classrooms."

He said the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) would not be scrapped.

"There will still be UPSR for core subjects but we are diluting it a bit. Instead, there will be more class-based examinations," he said after launching the Kirkby College Alumni Education Convention here yesterday.

Hishammuddin said the ministry would implement the new system in test schools by 2010, provided the ministry was ready to implement it by then.

Research on the plan began 18 months ago after the ministry initiated a new philosophy of giving students a more holistic education.

"Under this system, they can become more critical and constructive. We want them to learn entrepreneurial skills and be innovative. We want them to be confident and master languages."

Hishammuddin said it was hoped that the new system would instil core values like patriotism and tolerance in the youngsters.

Vocational and skills training centres should be focused on meeting global needs, he said.

"For instance, with all the talk about the food shortage, we have to include agricultural studies in the curriculum at these centres. What's the point of getting a degree and being an unemployed graduate?"

Hishammuddin also pledged to look personally into the quality of teachers.

He said that this had to start with a revamp of teacher training colleges, which had begun with the tabling of an amendment to the Education Act.

"We have elevated the teacher training colleges to institute level and looked into higher salaries and ranking for the lecturers there. But, they have to deliver in terms of the quality of teachers from these institutes."

A teacher training campus being built in Nilai is expected to facilitate this plan.

Hishammuddin hoped to see training colleges that specialised in different areas.

"In Keningau and Miri, for example, we want to focus on producing teachers who are willing to teach in rural and remote areas."