S’wak education groups reject call to scrap 2020 SPM exam
KUCHING: Education groups in Sarawak have disagreed with the call to scrap the 2020 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia ( SPM) examination next month after it was postponed from last year, and that its candidates be awarded the certificate based on merit instead.
Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen had on Monday urged the Education Ministry (MoE) to call off the public exam as he felt it was still unsafe for it to be held in the first quarter of this year, judging by the recent number of new daily Covid-19 infections.
He proposed that the SPM certificate be issued to the students based on their past school examinations, course work and/or mock examination results assessed by their teachers.
Sarawak Teachers Union (STU) president Adam Prakash Abdullah said it was not a good idea to scrap the exam, as unlike the UPSR and PT3 examinations, SPM is not only an exit certification but also plays a role as an admission criterion into institutions of higher learning.
“If we are to award SPM certificates based on school exam results, then we will have difficulties in ensuring standardisation. How is an A+ in School A the same as an A+ in School B?” he asked when contacted for comments on Chong’s suggestion.
Adam pointed out that there would be issues of reliability and validity of the certificates awarded, thus putting the students involved at a great disadvantage.
“Moreover, the SPM 2020 candidates do not have any Classroom Based Evaluation (PBD) scores that could be used as merit points to award the SPM certificates,” he said.
Adam said that STU understood the danger of having students present physically to sit for the SPM examinations during the Covid-19 pandemic and as such, he hoped MoE and the Health Ministry could come up with an agreeable and safe solution conforming to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to ensure that the SPM 2020 candidates could sit for the examinations as scheduled.
“STU would also urge all parents and members of the public to focus on supporting our students in their quest and not derail them from their mission of completing their SPM exams with flying colours. Qualifications in life are only acquired through examinations and students will later come to realise that they need certain qualifications to pass a certain stage in the job process,” he said.
The Management Board of Kuching Chung Hua Middle Schools No. 1, 3 and 4 chairman Dato Richard Wee said that while everyone was very concerned about the pandemic, it was impractical and unwise to suggest scrapping the public examination.
“To use the results from school examinations, course works and/ or mock examination results assessed by their teachers would not give a fair and common standard that public examinations like SPM offer. Each school has different standards. If we were to use school exam results, it does not achieve what SPM as a public exam is intended for,” he said.
He also believed there was a need to look at the far-reaching impact of the move.
“You do not want people to look back next time and say SPM 2020 results are worthless,” he said.
He noted that there were other countries that tried to replace public examinations but resulted in chaos, citing the United Kingdom (UK) as an example where they had used an algorithm method last August to determine university admissions for A-level students, which resulted in bias and exposed the flaws of the system leaving many students in limbo.
“The UK used an algorithm method to estimate exam results and it was totally chaotic,” he said.
Wee felt that one way the MoE could look at to prevent the spread of Covid-19 was to reduce the number of subjects in the examination.
“Maybe they could consider reducing the exam time or reducing the subjects to be examined. Say, from 10 subjects to six core or important subjects only so that the exam period will not be too long,” he suggested.
Meanwhile, Sarawak Bumiputera Teachers Union (KGBS) president Ahmad Malie was also of the opinion that the examination schedule should be shortened but at the same time fulfilling the criteria needed for SPM.
“In a situation where our education system is in a new normal, KGBS would like to suggest that the SPM 2020 examination be more focused on the main subjects such as Malay Language, English Language, Mathematics, Science and History. Make these subjects as the basis and yardstick to determine the eligibility of students to further their studies and to be supported by PBD reports for other subjects if necessary,” he said.
He noted there was a need to transform the way SPM is implemented according to the current situation where the pandemic was still a threat.
“Besides the number of subjects to be examined, there is a need to review the way the examination is implemented. KGBS does not agree with the idea to scrap the examination totally because SPM is still needed as a final screening before students continue on to further studies,” he said.
He added that KGBS was confident that MoE had identified the steps that comply with the SOP before SPM examinations were conducted.
If we are to award SPM certificates based on school exam results, then we will have difficulties in ensuring standardisation. How is an A+ in School A the same as an A+ in School B? Adam Prakash Abdullah