KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — The Ministry of Education has given an assurance that it has several options to prevent a “bottleneck” in the enrolment of students for public examination classes next year.

Minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidin said the procedure was being fine-tuned to come up with a clear framework which will be announced soon.

“Parents need not worry. Trust us, we are going to make sure that we can manage whatever situations we face in the best possible way,” he said.

He was responding to a question on the ministry’s plan to deal with a possible spike in enrolment for next year’s public examinations during a media engagement session through the Skype for Business online platform yesterday.

Earlier, at a media conference, Mohd Radzi said the initial reopening of schools will only involve classes that will be sitting for public examinations, namely Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), Sijil Vokasional Malaysia (SVM), Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM), Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM) and equivalent international examinations.

In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, the SPM and SVM examinations will be postponed to the first quarter of 2021, while the second-semester STPM examination will now be held in August 2020 and the third-semester examination will be in the first quarter of 2021.

The STAM examinations will also be postponed to the first quarter of 2021. — Bernama