By Foo Ming Li
At a press conference on April 15, 2020, Minister of Education Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin announced the postponement until next year of major public examinations like Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM), Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM), and Sijil Vokasional Malaysia (SVM).
The postponement has been made a second time in line with the recurrent spike of Covid-19 cases in the country.
Some SPM candidates have expressed their unease about sitting for their examinations.
Joshua Yeap, a SPM candidate, said that he has difficulty coping with online lessons, as technical difficulties often arise, like slow internet connection, computer microphone problems, and issues faced during presentation of online slides. Solving the relevant technical difficulties can be time-consuming, and less time, in effect, is spent teaching or continuing the lessons.
Joshua added that he has trouble adapting to online learning because he is used to asking questions in class. Unfortunately, as the microphone of his laptop may be malfunctioning, he is unable to spontaneously raise questions during an online class. Another reason for not being able to fully adapt to online learning is due to distractions at home.
“I would prefer face-to-face classes because we have more fun learning together, and we can enjoy a complete hands-on learning experience. In-person learning is not boring as I’ll be able to interact with friends,” he said
With regard to the postponement of the SPM, Yeap is slightly discouraged as he was hoping to complete his studies and take the examination as soon as possible to invest more time in researching into the colleges and universities.
“The postponement of SPM examination date does affect every student’s future study plan because it drags our secondary school period causing us to lose focus on planning out our tertiary educations,” he said
Yeap encourages all students not to give up, and persist in their focus on preparing for the SPM examinations.
Furthermore, another SPM candidate named Nimrita Joanne said she had difficulties taking online classes because she is not tech savvy and the shortened time of two weeks to complete their assignments has created stress for her and her classmates.
She feels that she has adapted well to online learning, but taking online classes, to her, is not as easy as face-to-face learning. She finds the face-to-face lessons are more beneficial, and there are fewer distractions in school compared to taking classes online from home.
“Although both face-to-face learning and online learning have their advantages and disadvantages, I prefer in-person learning because I feel less motivated to attend online classes when I am in the comfort of my home,” she said
Joanne said that she felt disheartened after she had received news on the postponement of the SPM examination. She felt discouraged because she believes that every student, including her, would want to sit for the SPM examination as soon as possible.
“Many people have been encouraging us by saying that we have more time to strengthen our understanding of weaker subjects, but I think it is very mentally draining to study the same thing repeatedly for a long time,” said Joanne.
She added that the Unit Pengambilan Universiti (UPU), a platform that facilitates applications for entry into local polytechnic universities, matriculation universities and other institutions, currently allows the use of SPM trial examination results for the application process.
Joanne expressed her concern that the use of trial examination results for application to universities may put students who did not fare well in their trial examinations at a disadvantage.
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