Ensuring no hitches in Sabah UPSR exam next week
Published on: Saturday, September 09, 2017
Kota Kinabalu: The State Education Department is fully prepared to face any emergencies and eventualities so that all 44,290 pupils in Sabah will not miss the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) beginning next Monday.Of the figure, 38,509 are candidates from national primary schools at 987 exam centres, 5,318 from Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) at 85 exam centres and 463 candidates from private schools at 16 exam centres in the State, including 139 special pupils and 369 slow learner candidates from 66 primary schools that have special education classes who registered to take up a Pentaksiran Alternatif Sekolah Rendah (PASR).Its Director Datuk Maimunah Suhaibul said all necessary preparations and measures have been put in order to ensure the appointed 4,567 exam duty officers in 1,088 exam centres would know how to respond to unexpected natural disasters and human acts that could prevent the pupils from taking the national exam.
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She said special briefings on exam management and safety to all district exam managers who are the district education officers, school exam managers who are the headmasters and headmistresses, and exam duty officers comprising the Head of Prefects, Deputy Head Prefects, Prefects, and Room Cleaners have been conducted earlier so as to prepare them to face adversity in any forms.Maimunah said the UPSR 2017 will be held simultaneously in the country on Sept 11, 12, 13 and 14 in all primary schools while Sept 18 is exclusively for pupils who registered to sit for Chinese language and Tamil language subjects in Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) and Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil (SJKT)."I am most hopeful that all headmasters, headmistresses and exam duty officers at all levels are fully ready to execute what needs to be done so that the candidates are able to sit for the national exam under any circumstances including natural disasters such as flash floods, and earthquakes, among others."They must also make sure that all Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) are complied with especially at examination centres. The respective schools need to provide a schedule for teachers on duty, special rooms to keep the examination papers, lockable safes, the exam halls or classes are conducive for the candidates and situated from school canteen and busy roads.
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"In fact, the department also has SOP for various situations where special operations have been created such as the Ops Wabak for any outbreak of diseases, Ops Payung for floods, Ops Gegar for earthquake, Ops Bom for any incident involving explosives and Ops Tebuk when the vault room that keep the UPSR examination papers suddenly could not be opened," she said.Speaking in a press conference at Wisma Pendidikan here, Friday, Maimunah said the headmasters or headmistresses also have the responsibility to ensure their all their pupils registered for the UPSR must sit for the exam.
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If the candidate fall sick or is involved in road accidents but able to sit for the UPSR, the department will make the hospital or the ward room as the exam centre.To a question, she said only one pupil from a primary school in Tuaran, so far, will sit for the national exam at the Women and Children's Hospital in Likas, as the candidate had informed the department earlier before the exam dates.The department is also working closely with many enforcement authorities and government agencies to ensure smooth implementation of the UPSR.Among them she said, are the Sabah police, Malaysia Security Council Sabah, Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) Sabah Ports Board, Marine Department, Customs Department, Sabah Electricity Sdn (SESB), Road Transport Department, Fire and Rescue Department, Sabah Welfare Department, Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), and Sabah Meteorological Department, For primary schools that are prone to flash floods, Fire and Rescue personnel are on standby for any emergencies and to immediately transport the pupils to assigned exam centres under such circumstance."I also hope the UPSR 2017 will run smoothly especially if there is a leak on the exam question papers."All headmasters, headmistresses and exam duty officers and the candidates must always abide by the existing examination instructions particularly those stipulated in the exam schedule UPSR 2017."All candidates are strongly advised to come early like 7am before the distribution of the question examination papers are distributed at 8am," she said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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