It was horrendous that the students who sat for the SPM moral paper yesterday found out that the format of the Moral Studies was changed at the last minute. This happened without any notice to the National Union of Teaching Profession and the students concerned.
How can the Ministry of Education allow this to happen? The students had spent the last two years preparing for the Moral Studies in the format that was stipulated by the Ministry of Education. If there were any changes to the format, they should only come into force two years from now after everybody was informed of it. The students should not be going into the examination hall and be surprised the moment they open the examination paper. Many would have been thrown off guard. Mentally and psychologically they would have required at least five to ten minutes to settle down and adjusted to the new format. They would not have performed as well as they were expected from all the hard work they have put in.
The implication of not scoring an A+ in the SPM is significant for certain students. Some of them may have lost out on the scholarship and the university places because of this. There are already people calling for a re-sit of the paper. Some are calling for the grade of the Moral Studies to be discounted in the consideration of the scholarship and university placing applications.
I hereby urge the Minister of Education to give a prompt explanation to this incidence. It is no small matter as certain individuals’ lives are certainly dependent on the grades they get. I also urge the Minister of Education to make sure at least the same number of A+ and A to be awarded when the results are released next year to avoid the expected unhappiness and the need for a re-sit. The application process for the universities will also not be affected. We owe it to our children to give them what they deserve for their efforts.