Teo: Let’s wait and see if PT3 exams will go on as scheduled

PUTRAJAYA: The Education Ministry will monitor the haze situation before deciding if the Form Three Assessment (PT3) examinations will go on as scheduled.

For now, Teo Nie Ching said it was status quo.

“We believe that the haze situation will be ongoing but we hope that with efforts like cloud seeding and others, we will not have to close schools during the examination period,” said the Deputy Education Minister after attending the DKLS Linguistic Ambassador Award 2019 Essay Writing Competition yesterday.

The written papers for the PT3 exams are scheduled to begin on Sept 30. It will go on until Oct 8.

“We are still monitoring the Air Pollutant Index readings closely to ensure the syllabus and learning process are not affected,” Teo said.

A circular from the Education Ministry dated Jan 15, 2019 stated that schools should stop all outdoor activities if the API levels reached 100 and above. Schools are ordered to close immediately if the API readings were 200 and above.

A ministry statement noted that more than 1.7 million students from 2,696 schools in Selangor, Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Sarawak were affected by school closures as of yesterday.

However, Teo urged teachers to conduct lessons via online platforms such as Google Classroom.

On Wednesday, Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said principals and headmasters should ensure that their staff could work from home. This, he said, was to ensure the welfare of the teaching workforce.