WITH new Covid-19 cases inching closer to the 20,000 mark, calls are mounting for the authorities to postpone the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination set to take place next month.
Parents and students alike said apart from safety concerns for those taking the ongoing SPM oral tests, the fear of infection could also affect students' psychological wellbeing as they prepared for the exams.
For parent Jennifer Lo, the rise in Covid-19 cases has begun affecting students taking the SPM oral tests.
She claimed that there had been cases of students not being allowed to take the SPM Bahasa Malaysia Bertutur examination as they were Covid-19-positive.
"It is, therefore, best to postpone it until Omicron peaks. Otherwise, we are subjecting students to undue mental stress.
"They are also the first batch under the new Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Menengah syllabus.
"As it is, this batch has already been psychologically impacted by an even longer duration away from physical classes," she told the New Straits Times.
Lo, whose daughter is sitting the SPM 2021 this year, said candidates could easily contract the coronavirus or risk being a close contact as cases were increasing exponentially.
She believed that the national examination should be postponed by a month.
"Since the Health Ministry says the Omicron wave will peak by late March, pushing the written component of SPM to April would be a great relief," she said.
SPM candidates have also initiated an online campaign to pressure the authorities into postponing the examination
until the Covid-19 situation was under control.
A change.org petition, under the title "Postpone SPM 2021 as Covid Cases are Rising", had, up to last night, garnered more than 1,000 signatories since it was launched four days ago.
In raising the petition, the students believed that allowing SPM to continue as scheduled will impact their mental and physical wellbeing.
The SPM candidates for the 2021 cohort began their oral examinations on Tuesday. The session is scheduled to run until Feb 24.
Written examinations are scheduled to take place from March 2 to 29.
The Health Ministry's figures showed that out of 385 active Covid-19 clusters, 235 involved education institutions.
Malaysia yesterday registered 19,090 new Covid-19 cases, compared with 17,134 on Wednesday.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah had last week cautioned that based on projections, Malaysia could hit 22,000 new daily cases by the end of March.
However, some parents believed that instead of postponing SPM, the authorities should formulate contingency plans.
Mohd Nizam Md Rashid and his wife, Azwan Shaiza Nizam, whose daughters are taking SPM this year, said any postponement would have a knock-on effect on university intakes.
"We both feel that the current situation is all right.
"However, our only concern is for the schools' support system. Teachers and janitors should be regularly tested to avoid bringing any possible infection to the school."
The authorities, they said, should prepare contingency plans in the event any exam
candidate tested positive during the examination.
"These plans should be well-thought-out and announced in advance instead of being told at the last minute to ensure everybody is well informed and to avoid panic among students."
Parent Action Group for Education president Datin Noor
Azimah Abdul Rahim said the onus is on the examination authorities as they will have to ensure that students affected by Covid-19 are not left behind.
"The Examinations Syndicate needs to ensure that students affected by Covid-19, whether directly or indirectly, will still be able to sit for the exams without much inconvenience.
"There may also be a need to delay some examinations if the students are in quarantine.
"Although, it may be more tedious for the Examinations Syndicate for some papers, conducting the examination online is feasible.
"But, without a doubt, higher security will be needed to ensure that question papers are not leaked," she said.
Azimah said parents had been vocal in raising concerns about the current situation as it involved the possibility of their children getting infected.
"However, the scenario is vastly different from a year ago, where the majority of students have been vaccinated.
"And if they were infected, it will most probably be a mild version of the infections as we are heading towards the endemic stage."