Student group urges against 'last minute' SPM results as varsity plans at stake

 

The Malaysian Youth for Education Reform (MYER) has urged the Education Ministry (MOE) to provide an estimate on when it is going to announce the 2020 SPM results.

MYER said this is because the MOE has yet to announce the date and it has affected students' planning for tertiary education.

"Without a notice, students are uncertain on when they are going to further study… we hope the government does not make a last-minute announcement to ease the burden of all parties who come from numerous backgrounds," the statement read.

MYER added that the ministry has to take into consideration students from rural areas who don't have the access to the Internet.

SPM examinations 2020 had been postponed several times due to the pandemic. It had taken place beginning Feb 22 until March.

Following the emergence of Covid-19 clusters in schools, MYER stressed that the MOE's previous plan to reopen schools was unreasonable as it had burdened the parents financially and created a risky environment.

As many students were back to the home-based teaching and learning method (PdPR), MYER also raised the government's promise to deliver laptops to 150,000 students as announced in the 2021 budget last year.

"Students who cannot afford to buy gadgets will be severely affected and left out, their literacy level will drastically go down," it said.

For students who will be taking SPM this year, MYER raised concern about students and teachers having difficulty finishing the new Standard Based Curriculum for Secondary Schools (KSSM) syllabus as they spent a lot of time studying from home.

Lastly, it noted that the MOE has no guidelines or circular to disallow teachers to conduct physical period spot checks on students as raised by the media recently.

Responding to the issue, Education Minister Radzi Jidin had asked the public to tell him which school conducted such practice so actions can be taken. - Mkini