KUALA LUMPUR: History will be a must-pass subject in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination from 2013 along with the Bahasa Malaysia subject, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.

With the move, students must pass the subject to be able to obtain the SPM certificate, said Muhyiddin, who is the Education Minister.

“We need to give them (students) some time to adjust. We also need time to train teachers and to prepare our students to face the new system,” he said in his winding-up speech at the 2010 Umno General Assembly, here yesterday.

He also said that from 2014, history would be made a core subject in primary school under the Primary School Standard Curriculum.

“As what has been raised by the representatives from Perak and Kedah, at the moment, history elements are only taught in the Local Studies subject,” he said.

He said the ministry would also make improvement to the subject, with emphasis on enhancing the understanding of the constitution so as to enlighten students about the country’s nation-building process.

He also said that the implementation of the school-based assessment system, which would replace the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR), would be brought forward from 2016 to 2014 following calls for the assessment system to be expedited.

“The UPSR (Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah) examination will be retained but will undergo improvement based on current development. But we still need some time to retrain the teachers and so on,” he said. — Bernama