KUALA LUMPUR – The 401,105 candidates sitting the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2020 will go down in history as the first batch of students to take the much-delayed public examination in the new norm.
The examination, conducted in strict adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs), kicked off with Bahasa Melayu Paper 1 and 2 at 8am and 2pm, respectively, today, with 8.014 invigilators deployed to maintain proper conduct of examination sessions, including full compliance with SOPs.
Besides having to go through the longest annual SPM class session at almost 14 months, this batch of SPM candidates were also forced to switch to online learning via apps such as Google Meet, Google Classroom and Skype.
These SPM candidates, as well as those sitting the Sijil Vokasional Malaysia (SVM) and Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM), being conducted at 3,310 centres, are required to submit a health declaration form every day before entering the examination hall.
A check by Bernama at schools nationwide saw groups of students wearing masks already lining up to have their temperatures taken from as early as 6.30am.
In Selangor, Deputy Education Minister Muslimin Yahaya was satisfied with SOP compliance at SJKC Yoke Kuan in Sekinchan, where he was monitoring the situation.
He said for this year’s SPM, the school has also provided preparation, isolation and quarantine rooms for students’ convenience.
In Negri Sembilan, 16,554 students are sitting the examination at 151 centres and, during a visit to SMK Senawang, twins Suhaila Md Zahar and Suhaili Md Zahar, 17, said although they were all nerves, this would not stop them from doing their best as they aspire to be among the outstanding performers at their school this year.
In Melaka, 13,464 candidates will sit the examination at 102 examination centres across the state.
In Johor Baru, 175 SMK Perempuan Sultan Ibrahim students are among 49,472 candidates taking the examination at 366 centres in Johor.
Kumpulan Penggerak Ibu bapa, Komuniti dan Swasta chairman Datuk Yahya Jaafar said he was pleased with the preparations and was confident the examination would run smoothly at the school. – Bernama, February 22, 2021
