KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 — The Education Ministry is being urged to address online claims that the passing grade for the year-end school assessment (UASA) has been reduced to 20%, following concerns raised by a teachers' group.

Fouzi Singon, secretary-general of the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP), emphasized the need for clarity, as parents are closely following the claims on social media. He called on the Ministry to provide an official explanation to help parents understand the situation.

UASA, a school-based evaluation, replaced the previous national exams — UPSR for Year 6 and PT3 for Form 3 students — which were phased out in 2021 and 2022. The assessments are conducted at the end of the school year for students in Standards 4 to 6 and Forms 1 to 3.

This week, a former teacher’s Facebook post alleged that the UASA passing grade had been lowered from 40% to 20%. This comes amid ongoing debates about reinstating UPSR and PT3, with critics arguing that class-based assessments are leading to weaker academic results.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek has thus far resisted calls to restore the exams, stating that it would be unfair to treat Malaysian students as "experimental subjects.