MELAKA, Dec 15 — Four Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2023 papers scheduled on February 20 will go on despite the date being declared as a public holiday in Melaka in conjunction with the country’s Independence Declaration Day.

State Education, Higher Education and Religious Affairs Committee chairman Datuk Rahmad Mariman said this followed the state government gazetting February 20 as a new state public holiday to replace the declaration of Melaka as a Historical City on April 15 each year before this.

"So candidates of four SPM papers namely Manahij al ‘Ulum al-Islamiah, Pendidikan Seni Visual, Pendidikan Muzik and Reka Cipta are reminded that the examination will go on as planned.

"A total of 4,528 students will be involved in the four papers in 84 examination centres with 335 invigilators involved,” he told reporters here today.

Earlier, he attended the Hari Rumah Mesra Rakyat (RMR) with Melaka branch Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd (SPNB) at the State Legislative Assembly Development and Coordination Committee (Japerun) in Ayer Molek.

The holiday was gazetted as the country’s Independence Declaration Day in conjunction with the announcement of independence of the Federation of Malaya by Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj at Padang Banda Hilir, Melaka on February 20, 1956.

Commenting further, Rahmad said a total of 12,900 candidates had registered to sit for SPM 2023 at 103 examination centres throughout Melaka compared to 12,907 candidates in 2022.

He said a total of 1,255 examination officers had been appointed to ensure that the SPM examination ran smoothly as scheduled.

In the meantime, he also encouraged school students, congregations in suraus and mosques to use face masks following an increase in Covid-19 cases in the state, especially those with symptoms.

"Even though there is still no order to wear face masks, we encourage them to wear to curb the spread,” he said.

Earlier, the media reported that the state Exco for Health, Human Resources and Unity, Ngwe Hee Sem announced that Covid-19 cases in Melaka in Epidemiology Week 48 which ended on December 2 showed an increase of 534 new cases compared to the previous week. — Bernama