BENTONG, Sept 8 — The Education Ministry will investigate a directive issued to several National-Type Chinese Primary Schools (SJKC) in Penang barring invigilators from using other than Bahasa Malaysia when issuing examination instructions to the Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) candidates.

Deputy Education Minister, Senator Chong Sin Woon said he had just received information on the matter when the UPSR got underway this morning.

“I personally contacted the examination invigilators at the schools concerned and they said they were only allowed to use Bahasa Malaysia to explain the examination procedure.

“The directive is not accurate because the ministry allows bilingualism by the examination invigilators for UPSR candidates at SJKCs and National-Type Tamil Schools,” he said.

He said this during a visit in conjunction with the UPSR at SJKC Khai Mun here today.

Chong said the invigilators could request assistance to explain to the candidates concerning the examination instructions if they could only speak in Bahasa Malaysia.

“The ministry is still in the process of investigating and identifying the affected schools.

“We are also investigating the source of the allegation and identifying the parties responsible to prevent its recurrence to enable the examination to run smoothly until it ends on Sept 10,” he said.

He said the ministry still maintained the bilingual system by examination invigilators, as previously.

“We have not issued any circular stating that examination invigilators are only allowed to use Bahasa Malaysia to give instructions on the examination to the candidates,” he said.

Chong said he had stated previously that there was no change in policy, and as such, he had contacted the State Education Department to explain this again to all affected schools to avoid confusion.

On his visit, Chong said it was held because the ministry wanted to ensure the UPSR proceeded smoothly and no cases of leaked questions took place this year.

“The ministry learned a lesson from past incidents and took precautionary measures to ensure it does not recur.

“We have updated the operations in the strong-room and who is made responsible for keeping the question papers, and tightening the procedures further,” he said.

Meantime, 45,299 UPSR candidates sat for the Bahasa Melayu and Mathematics papers today. — Bernama