KUALA LUMPUR: Fardhu Ain and Kifayah (Kafa) examinations for 2020 have been cancelled in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting Movement Control Order (MCO).
The announcement was made by minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad al-Bakri in a live telecast on his Facebook page at noon, today.
He said the cancellation will not affect the evaluation process of pupils attending Kafa classes from Year 1 to Year 6 at the primary level.
Dr Zulkifli said in line with the Education Ministry’s (MOE) decision that school sessions would only continue in accordance with the Health Ministry’s advice, the Malaysia Islamic Development Department (Jakim) has decided to follow suit.
“The MOE has announced its decision that school sessions would start subject to current developments and advice from the Ministry of Health and the National Security Council (MKN), until the country is fully recovered from the Covid-19 outbreak.
“Therefore, Kafa examinations for written subjects scheduled from Sept 28 to Oct 1 nationwide are cancelled,” he said, adding that the decision was made to safeguard the health and safety of pupils.
Dr Zulkifli added that Jakim will be introducing new methods of pupil evaluation to replace the written assessment.
“I hope parents who have children (eligible to sit) for Kafa examinations will find relief in this announcement,” he said.
On Wednesday, Senior Minister (Education) Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin said discussions had been held with all state governments and religious departments on the status of Kafa examinations.
He said there are 450,000 UPSR candidates nationwide, this year – and that the government must make sure that risks to their safety and health are kept to a minimum.
Mohd Radzi also announced the cancellation of this year’s Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) for Year 6 pupils and Pentaksiran Tingkatan 3 (PT3) for Form 3 students.
He said the cancellations will not affect the evaluation process of the students’ mastery of their lessons at the primary and lower secondary levels.
Mohd Radzi added that evaluations will be done through a new method which will be introduced later.