PUTRAJAYA, Sept 24 — Malaysia’s two education ministers are showing how public figures should take responsibility for leaked school examination papers by staying on to resolve the problems caused, a retired chief judge said today.
Appointed chairman of a special independent education committee to monitor the examination syndicate, Tun Zaki Azmi, deflected calls for Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh to quit their offices, saying the duo are “being responsible” by doing everything it takes to prevent future mishaps.
“This is how the minister is taking responsibility... by taking the problem seriously and wanting to resolve it seriously,” said Zaki, referring to the committee set up by the Education Ministry.
“We, here, are all people of integrity,” he stressed, adding that the committee made up of eight other representatives from the civil service, teachers’ union and cybersecurity will be meeting twice a week to get to bottom of the problem.
Thousands of 12-year-olds have been forced to re-sit their primary school leaving examinations, or Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR), after the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate (MES) reported that four examination papers were leaked.
The Examinations Syndicate had initially disclosed the security of the UPSR English and Science papers were compromised and ordered students to re-sit the exams on September 18 and 30 respectively.
It was later discovered that the UPSR Mathematics and Tamil paper were also leaked, and the body has since instructed pupils to retake the two papers on October 11.
Zaki stressed that the ministry is monitoring the situation closely after the security breach.
“This should serve as a warning,” he said.
He added that the committee hopes to meet its three-month deadline promptly and will then submit its recommendations for improving the current standard operating procedure in the preparation, printing and distribution of the exam papers.
The committee added it welcomed public feedback, complaints or suggestions on improving the current procedures to http://www.moe.gov.my/lp
The nationwide exam for the final year of primary school students is expected to be abolished after next year.
