Education Ministry makes thorough preparations to ensure smooth UPSR

KUALA NERANG: The Education Ministry has made thorough preparations to ensure that the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah ( UPSR) which began yesterday runs smoothly.

Its minister, Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the preparations included measures to tackle unexpected events like disasters such as floods and haze.

In addition, the Examinations Board had also taken appropriate measures to prevent the leakage of exam questions, he told reporters after handing donations worth RM70,000 to 312 students in the Padang Terap constituency who obtained places in public and private tertiary institutions here yesterday.

“We have plan A and plan B in case things like floods and other disasters happen,” he said.

A total of 452,721 candidates will be sitting for the UPSR which began yesterday and will end on Sept 8, and of these, 443,677 are candidates from government and government- aided schools, while 9,044 are private school candidates. A total of 8,100 examination centres have been opened throughout the country, with 51,518 invigilators appointed to ensure the exams go on smoothly.

From the feedback I received, the examination has gone on well following the set standard operating procedure. The area supervisors and invigilators involved in conducting the examination have observed the SOP. Chong Sin Woon, Deputy Education Minister II

In Seremban, Deputy Education Minister II Chong Sin Woon said out of the total number of candidates sitting for the examination, 340,377 were from national schools, 88,508 from Chinese national type schools (SJK), 14,792 from Tamil SJK and the rest ( 9,044) were private candidates.

“From the feedback I received, the examination has gone on well following the set standard operating procedure. The area supervisors and invigilators involved in conducting the examination have observed the SOP,” he told reporters after visiting SJK Cina Pei Hwa here yesterday.

Meanwhile, Negeri Sembilan Education Director Rusni Abdul. Jalil said 16,945 candidates are sitting for the UPSR at 349 exam centres in the state.

In Malacca, Education, Higher Education, Science and Technology, Green Technology and Innovations Exco Datuk Md Yunos Husin said there were 13,379 Standard Six students from 242 primary schools who were sitting for the exam. He said eight students were sitting for the exam in several hospitals including two at the Mahkota Medical Centre who were suffering from dengue and Influenza A.

“There are 54 pupils who are special needs candidates, comprising 34 in the slow learner category, students with impaired vision (12), deaf ( 7), and spastic (1),” he said.

He said 1,330 area supervisors, chief invigilators, and invigilators had been assigned to monitor the examination at 241 centres. — Bernama