KUALA LUMPUR: Candidates sitting the 2020 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations are urging the Education Ministry to postpone them until the Covid-19 pandemic can be effectively reined in.
As they returned to schools yesterday, the students expressed concern about their safety and lamented the short gap between the trial and the actual SPM examinations.
Dean (Not his real name), 18, said SPM students were frustrated, exhausted and depressed by online learning and the flip-flops regarding the examinations.
"We were barely in school for five months to prepare for the biggest public examination.
"Honestly, we are not prepared. We were unable to cope with online learning as we lacked guidance and feedback from our teachers.
"Starting yesterday, 2020 SPM candidates were required to return to school and some of our schools insist on conducting SPM trial examinations from Jan 21 (today). This adds to our stress as we have only a two-week window between our trials and the real examinations.
"I know of many students who are depressed and some have even come to a breaking point.
"So I really hope the government will postpone the SPM examinations by at least two months," he told the New Straits Times.
Mala (Not her real name), 18, said online learning had been stressful and that high expectations from parents had added to their pressure.
"We need more time to understand certain subjects as we are learning most of the topics by ourselves. At the same time, our parents expect us to get good results and this puts more pressure on us," she said, urging the Education Ministry to delay the SPM.
James (not his real name), 18, urged the government to reconsider the decision to reopen schools due to the drastic surge in Covid-19 cases.
"In the Klang Valley, especially, we may see a 'gathering of Covid-19 clusters' if students are allowed to return to school since all of us are coming from red zones.
"It is near impossible to comply with physical distancing and other standard operating procedures in school.
"What happens if a student contracts the virus? All of us may have to undergo quarantine and exams may have to be delayed. So it is wiser to postpone them now."
The most common difficulty faced by students is related to the online learning methods that have been employed at all levels of education since last year.
A student, who wanted to be known only as Kris, 18, said poor Internet connection often disrupted the learning process and resulted in students losing interest to follow the lessons.
"We start to lose the momentum when the video keeps lagging while the teacher speaks, especially when we try to follow the step-to-step working for calculation subjects," she said.
"No doubt the teachers are doing their best, but online learning is just futile.
"In fact, I covered most of the topics myself by referring to pre-recorded videos that are available on free education platforms."
Another student, who wished to be known only as John, 18, echoed the concerns.
"During the face-to-face classes last year, teachers rushed through the syllabus, but when they explained it again during online classes, we could not understand.
"It was difficult to study subjects like Mathematics, Additional Mathematics and Accounting via online classes."
Meanwhile, Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim urged the government to allow students to opt out from attending school.
"Parents have urged that trials be cancelled for the 20 per cent of schools that have not completed the process. They are also aggrieved when schools reopened for two months last year before abruptly closing as the SOP were not closely adhered to by the teachers.
"So we call on the government to give the option for students to sit SPM on Feb 22 and STPM on March 8 without having to attend school from Jan 20 onwards," she said in a statement.