PUTRAJAYA: Following the detection of the leak of the Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) Science papers yesterday, the Education Ministry today announced the leak of the English papers.
Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said the English papers 014/1 and 014/2 (Papers 1 and 2) were found to have leaked too and they would have to resit the papers.
The leak was confirmed at 11 am today after the ministry was notified last night that the question papers had been circulated widely on the social media, he said.
He said the ministry apologised for the second incident. The examination for the Science 018, 028, 038 papers scheduled for today has been postponed to Sept 30.
“We will make sure that those responsible for the leak are dealt with severely because integrity has been questioned. This should not have happened. I apologise to the parents who have to bear with the inconvenience,” he told a press conference after attending the signing of an agreement on implementation of a training programmes based on Continuous Professional Development (CDP) here.
Idris said an independent and high-profile panel would be set up soon to investigate the leaks which he felt had tarnished the credibility and integrity of the ministry.
The committee would consider the penalty for the offenders, ensure that there would be no recurrence of leaks and recommend measures for the ministry to adopt to prevent the incidents, he said.
The panel would also look into the kind of security measures that would have to be introduced from time to time to counter the actions of those who had access to technology or abused their authority, he added.
Idris said the ministry was considering whether the pupils could resit the English papers on Sept 30 as well. The pupils will sit for the Science papers then.
Idris said the new date would have to be set by taking into account many aspects such as the logistical and technical issues because it involved 473,175 pupils, 8,299 examination centres, 51,438 staff and 382 strong rooms.
Idris said the ministry would ensure that examination paper leaks did not recur.
The desire of the government to introduce the school-based assessment was to reduce the focus on examinations and avert such incidents, he said.-Bernama