This will be followed by the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) in 2021 and the Primary School Achievement Test (USPR) in 2022.
Education Minister Maszlee Malik said with the alignment of the UPSR, PT3 and SPM English exam papers to CEFR, pupils will know their respective proficiency of the English language at the CEFR level.
Such certification will encourage students to master the English language, he said when speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the panel of experts in the Rating Standards and English Language Quality Council’s session 2018-2020 at the education ministry here today.
On the council, Maszlee said it was set up to control the standard and quality of the English language in Malaysia.
Six of the seven panel members, comprising English language experts from universities, English language professional bodies and individuals active in research, received their letters of appointment at the ceremony today.
They are Adjunct Professor Zuraidah Mohd Don, from the Sultan Idris Education University; Professor Anna Christina Abdullah, from the Wawasan Open University of Penang; dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Prof Hazita Azman, and a former associate professor at the Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Mardziah Hayati Abdullah.
The other three panel members are Associate Professor Ramesh Nair at the Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi Mara; Cambridge International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examiner trainer P Jaya Pushani and Associate Professor Ranjit Singh Gill, from Quest International University, Perak.