KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry is ready to relocate candidates for the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) in the event of a natural disaster as predicted by the Malaysian Meteorological Department (JMM).
Its deputy minister, Teo Nie Ching, said she had already discussed the matter with several rescue agencies.
“A total of 440,743 students across the country including private candidates will face the UPSR on Sept 20 to 27.
“We follow the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) set by the Malaysian Examinations Board (MEB) which required us to be prepared to face any possibility including natural disasters during the examination season.
“We have already identified the areas where candidates will be able to conduct the examination as scheduled,” she said at a press conference at the National Education Management Symposium at Hotel Residency Scholar, here today.
A total of 275 schools principals from across the country to discuss the element of empowering principals in Malaysia attended the programme.
Teo said the ministry took the safety of students seriously, not only for UPSR candidates, but also those taking other examinations under the ministry.
Heavy rain with strong winds that hit almost an hour in most parts of Perlis last night caused landmarks and some big trees to fall.
Among the affected areas are Jalan Kangar-Arau (Repoh), Jalan Datuk Ali (Kayang), Jalan Repoh-Santan (Santan), Mata Ayer-Gial (Ayer-Gial Road) and Padang Siding due to falling trees.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department’s National Weather and Geophysics Operations Center (MetMalaysia) director Dr Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip said the line storm (violent storm) was a situation where strong winds of the Andaman Sea collided with the slow wind north of the Straits of Malacca.
He said the clouds of thunderstorms were moving speedily from sea to sea and it usually happens in the Straits of Malacca and on the west coast of Sabah at this time and is expected to end either later this month or next month.