Use alternative assessment methods to award 2020 SPM certs, DAP S’wak tells Education Ministry

Chong Chieng Jen

KUCHING (Jan 6): Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak has urged the Education Ministry (MoE) to formulate alternative assessment measures to replace the 2020 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) exam for the issuance of the certificates, given the daily four-digit new Covid-19 cases for the past two weeks.

Its chairman Chong Chieng Jen said going by the past record of daily new Covid-19 cases which led to the postponement of the public examination twice, it was still not safe to proceed with the examination scheduled to start on Feb 22.

“The numbers have escalated from double-digit new cases at the time of the first postponement, to triple-digit new cases at the time of the second postponement to now four-digit new cases daily,” he said in a statement.

The 2020 SPM exam was initially scheduled for the end of last year but was deferred to Jan 6 to Feb 9, 2021 and then postponed to next month.

While the SPM was an important method of assessing the knowledge of the students, Chong opined there were also other assessment methods that could be adopted, since even international examinations like the O Level, A-Level and International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) were cancelled last year.

“If the boards of such international examinations can cancel the examinations and substitute them with other assessment methods, I can’t see why the MoE of Malaysia cannot formulate other tests to substitute the 2020 SPM exams for the issuance of the SPM certificates.”

Chong remarked the country was in an extraordinary time and the MoE has to come up with measures to cope with the situation without putting the students at great risk.

“The incessant postponements of the 2020 SPM exams are just not the solution to the problem. Forcing them to go to the exam halls to sit through the exams in this Covid-19 pandemic is also not the solution.”

Therefore, Chong said he called upon the MoE to quickly implement an alternative assessment measure so that the students can proceed with their further study without unnecessary delays and hardship.

“It is easy for those critics to insist on having the SPM exams, but one has to put himself in the shoes of the students and the mental stress and anxiety that they are put through under the present circumstances.”

Chong’s suggestion on Monday that the 2020 SPM exam be called off and that candidates instead be awarded with the education certificate based on merit was shot down by various education groups.

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