It was reported yesterday that 86 Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) candidates in Lipis have been placed under quarantine after a single pupil tested positive for Covid-19.[1]
This is exactly the concern I had expressed earlier when I questioned MOE’s SOP for students sitting for SPM 2020, scheduled to begin next month.[2] As of yesterday, over 400,000 SPM and STPM students have started going back to school to prepare for their exams. With daily cases and Covid outbreak on the rise, the entire country (except Sarawak) is now under MCO. Yet these students are to go back to school without screening.
Will this be the SOP for other cases of students infected with Covid-19? It is only day 1 back-to-school and already 86 students have been placed in quarantine. Where are the rest of the quarantine centres and are they enough to accommodate? Will students who are confirmed infected and those in quarantine continue to sit for SPM? If so, how? The Ministry of Education must give a firm answer to all these questions and more.
I applaud Sabah for taking matters into their own hands by making screening compulsory for students returning to hostels. Because of their proactive measures, 36 students were found to be positive for Covid-19 and are now in low-risk quarantine centres.[3]
Over here, the government has made a U-turn in compulsory screening for students, following complaints that students were required to self-finance their Covid-19 tests.[4] Why can’t the government fund screening for the 400,000 students returning to school? They should be a priority if they are going to be left exposed.
The Prime Minister recently announced the Perlindungan Ekonomi dan Rakyat Malaysia (PERMAI) assistance package, valued at RM15 billion. If it’s true that the priority of this package is to ‘protect the rakyat’ and ‘combat the Covid-19 outbreak’, then where is the allocation to safeguard our children in school? Certainly the RM35.4 million allocation to build three community halls in Johor could be better spent in ensuring the safety of our children.
I strongly urge the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health to plan out the SOPs for students sitting for SPM and announce it as soon as possible and not at the last minute as they have been doing all this time.
Parents, students and teachers need time to plan and prepare. Everyone is under undue stress because of this and it is really taking a toll on the students’ mental health. I have received many letters, messages and comments from SPM students sharing how stressed and unmotivated they are to sit for SPM. Countless news reports have been written on the struggles and challenges faced by these examination candidates in dealing with repeated postponement and the ineffectiveness of online classes for most. SPM students are voicing out their fears and concerns through the #SuaraPelajar movement which also calls for an alternative evaluation of SPM 2020 due to the extraordinary circumstances.
Unfortunately, their voices are falling on deaf ears as the government still seems to be ignorant of their plight.