Yong: Sarawak SPM students at disadvantage if in-person classes delayed

Violet Yong

KUCHING (Dec 30): Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong wants the State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) to clarify the status of the National Recovery Plan (NRP) and whether students in Sarawak will be attending in-person classes or continue with online classes.

She added if the students have to continue with online classes, SDMC and the state government must formulate a more robust plan to assist SPM candidates in the state to ensure they will not be at a disadvantage when sitting for the exam compared to students in Peninsular Malaysia.

“The government must bear in mind that Form 5 children in Sarawak will be sitting for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) in March 2022 together with all the other candidates in Malaysia.

“Sarawak has the highest vaccination rate, yet Sarawak is among the last few states that have yet to begin in-person classes. The other states had already begun in-person classes for these candidates.

“They already had their simulation for their Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Inggeris oral examinations, so they will be more prepared than our children,” she said in a statement yesterday.

She added that some states had even begun with laboratory classes to prepare their candidates for the science practical examination which is scheduled to be held early next year.

“Whatever your decisions, please keep in heart that our rakyat time to get their children ready for school, not because they are slow but they need time to pool resources (especially financial) during this challenging time,” she added.

Yong said the Ministry of Education (MOE) must keep to its promise of giving at least a week’s notice when changing the mode of teaching, adding that schools in Sarawak are still waiting for a notice on the situation.

“Other than this, we need to seriously look into learning of our school going children especially those from the rural and remote areas who have not been attending classes (online or offline) to ensure that they do not become a lost generation,” she said.

Yong also highlighted the anxiety of Sarawakians over further developments of the NRP.

According to her, Sarawak is still in Phase 3 of NRP as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in September this year and since then, there has been no further announcement from the government relating to the change in the NRP phase or annulment of the NRP.

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