Mixed reactions to proposal to scrap 2020 SPM examinations
KUCHING: The proposal to scrap the 2020 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination in favour of a merit system due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has attracted mixed reactions from a wide spectrum of the public.
Lydiana Jimmy is still having mixed feelings about her only son sitting for SPM 2020 this year.
The 50-year-old said while she personally does not emphasise too much on academic results, SPM is still important for any child’s future.
“I don’t believe that academic results are everything in life, but the reality is different. We are a result-oriented society and people are still judged by their academic results. Now the pandemic may be a reason to put exams aside, but what happens when this is over and students want to apply to study in universities or even to apply for basic entry-level jobs?
“I worry for my son’s safety but I also worry for his future. Let’s just hope that Ministry of Education has all the necessary plans to keep the students safe during the exam,” said Lydiana.
Asmah Abang Basri, whose son is studying at SMK St Joseph and waiting to sit for the SPM, also disagreed with the scrapping of the SPM examination as students who did not fare well in their trial examination could maybe perform better in the real examination.
“Imagine if a student got grade C for a subject in the trial examination. And having learned his or her shortcomings, he or she studied hard and struggled enough for the next three months in preparation for SPM until he or she is confident in scoring an A.
“Now, if the exam is abolished, that would not only be unfair for that student but it could cause a long term effect in terms of his motivation. What a pity!” she said.
Asmah was also of the opinion that sitting for a public examination like SPM is part and parcel or the ‘pinnacle’ of a student’s high school years.
“Also, taking precedence from United Kingdom (UK) experience last year on A-level, there’s going to be a lot of chaos and some students will be hard done by or slipped out of the system and have their future at stack.”
The A-Level secondary education public examination was cancelled last year in UK after the surging cases of Covid19 there.
Meanwhile, SMK Sacred Heart Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) chairman Dr Lau Ngi Chuong opined that SPM is the most important examination in a student’s life that will determine the direction of his or her further studies and career path.
“If we just use their school assessments by their own teachers, we may not get accurate or standard assessment of the students’ achievement. This may create further problems when we want to select candidates to enter higher institutions,” said Dr Lau.
He said the examination should proceed as planned next month as students had already made much preparation for a while now and going to school for the examination should not be a concern as long as standard operating procedures are being followed.
Christian Isaac Ningkan, a student of SMK St Thomas here who is currently waiting to sit for his SPM examination, believed there would be a mixed response towards the proposal that is based on a merit system, such as using a student’s trial examination results.
“I believe some would prefer not to sit for the SPM because they already lost their motivation as the examination has been dragging for a few months now and by right, we should already be done with the examination at this time if not for the pandemic,” he said.
Isaac also said the proposal might not be fair to students who have to sit for their trial examination after the year-end holidays as the students had to study on their own without teacher guidance during the holiday and their memory of the knowledge learned might not be as fresh when school starts.
“At the same time, I am also mentally tired, tired of studying. It has been dragging for so long and I don’t think I can achieve the results that I did for my trials. I did quite well for my trials and I am not sure if I am able to achieve the kind of results anymore. However, I am fine with both options of with or without SPM,” said Isaac.
Nonetheless, Isaac said he is receptive to having the 2020 SPM done away with as a merit system adopts a wider approach in evaluating a student’s performance, instead of one that relies solely on academic excellence.
Dexter Dunggat Lambert, an SPM candidate from SMK Batu Lintang sitting for the public examination next month, shared the views of Isaac and said cancelling the 2020 SPM would assist stressed-out students who were facing difficulties to focus on their studies during this difficult time.
“Apart from this, students have less time in school to complete their syllabus. Online class isn’t really effective for most students as they can get distracted by many things at home,” said Dexter.
With a merit system, he opined that teachers’ efforts would not go to waste since past school examinations were already assessed and on top of that, students in rural areas might face limited coverage of internet for online classes which would affect their studies.
“Therefore, this doesn’t mean that we students do not want to sit for the exam. It’s just that I don’t think we will be in the right mindset when the time for examination comes,” said Dexter.