BATU PAHAT, Jan 2 — The Education Ministry (MOE) has identified 133 alternative centres for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination across six states in the event of flooding.
Education director-general Azman Adnan said the move aims to ensure the exams can proceed in states frequently affected by floods, such as Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Pahang, Johor and Sabah.
He added that the respective State Education Departments would activate “Ops Payung” to assist candidates and exam personnel impacted by the disaster.
“The ministry will ensure candidates are placed in schools with hostels as a contingency measure during floods, similar to arrangements made during the oral tests recently.
“If the designated exam centre is affected by floods, we will transfer candidates to the identified alternative centres,” he told a press conference after observing the first day of the SPM written exams at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tinggi Batu Pahat here today.
Meanwhile, Azman said the SPM exams in Johor this Monday would proceed as scheduled despite the replacement holiday in conjunction with the shift to a Saturday-Sunday weekend.
He confirmed that written exams for English Paper 1 and 2 and Tasawwur Islam would be held, with 49,980 candidates sitting for the exams.
On Oct 7 last year, the Regent of Johor Tunku Mahkota Ismail announced that the state would revert to a Saturday-Sunday weekend starting Jan 1, 2025, with the approval of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, based on advice from the Johor Islamic Religious Department.
The first week of the change will create a six-day working week from Sunday, Dec 29, 2024, to Friday, Jan 3, 2025, with Jan 1, 2025, falling on a Wednesday. — Bernama
