KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 13 — The Ministry of Education (MoE) is scheduled to table the compulsory secondary education policy aimed at addressing absenteeism, dropout and quality of education in Parliament next month.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the introduction of the policy was also to address the problem of students not attending school, especially during the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination.

"Measures to ensure students attend school have been carried out throughout the year, not only during SPM, such as the Cakna Ziarah programme at the community level.

"The examination is still going on until Feb 6, so the figure earlier mentioned is still not mature,” she told a press conference at the presentation of the 2025 Early Schooling Aid here today.

Last Jan 2, Fadhlina was reported as saying that about 10,000 candidates have yet to confirm their attendance for the annual examination.

She said the attendance rate for the SPM 2024 candidates then was 97 per cent and hoped the rate could be further improved.

Meanwhile, Fadlina also reminded parents and guardians of the 2024 SPM examination candidates to ensure their children sit for the examination.

Regarding the alleged leak of the SPM 2024 examination paper for the History subject, Fadlina said the MoE has taken all precautionary measures to ensure the integrity of the SPM examination.

Last Jan 9, the Education Ministry announced that the alleged leak of the History paper was unfounded. — Bernama