KUALA LUMPUR – 401,105 students will be sitting for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2020 examination while the country is still facing the Covid-19 pandemic nationwide, a situation which requires them to bring extra ‘shield’.
Armed with their stationery and knowledge, the candidates of SPM 2020 are also required to bring in their face shield or face mask to protect themselves from the deadly virus.
The candidates will be sitting for their Bahasa Melayu Paper 1 and Paper 2, which start at 8.00 am and 2.00 pm today.
Form Five students, including those sitting for the Sijil Vokasional Malaysia (SVM) examination are the first group of students to sit for national examination under the new normal.
3,310 SPM examination centres have been set up nationwide and disinfected according to the guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOP) determined by the National Security Council (MKN) and the Ministry of Health (MOH).
Candidates are required to submit a completed health declaration form every day, prior to entering the examination hall, have their body temperatures taken and wear face masks during the exam.
Those tested positive for Covid-19 and students who are instructed to undergo quarantine after coming into close contact of positive cases will not be allowed to sit for the examination on that day. However, they must produce certified documents to reschedule the examination.
48,014 invigilators will be on duty to ensure that the full compliance of SOP during the examination until 25 March.
The SPM candidates today are also the group of students who had to go through the longest annual SPM class session of almost 14 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced them to switch to home-based online learning through various channels.
The annual SPM, SVM and STAM examinations are usually held in November but the examination is deferred for the 2020 batch from the initial January 2021 and now, February 2021 due to the schools closure to curb the spread of Covid-19. -MalaysiaGazette
