Pupils, teachers complain of poor audio quality in SPM English comprehension test

IPOH: Thousands of Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) candidates and teachers are disappointed over what they claim is poor audio quality of the recording used in the English paper three comprehension test.

They claimed that not only was the audio quality poor but the person in the recording spoke too fast, which made it difficult for to hear what they were saying.

According to Malay news portal Majoriti, a teacher even questioned if the Exams Syndicate had opted to use TikTok influencers instead of letting teachers conduct the test.

"We saw several videos of students with 'clown faces' who had sat for the test. Initially, we didn't know what it was about until we talked to them.

"The students were stressed out because the audio was not clear and this made it difficult for them when answering the questions. Perhaps the Education Ministry wanted to try something new but this has led to trouble," the teacher told Majoriti.

The 'clown face' filter is a trend on TikTok platform, which shows that the person featured in the video is speaking ironically.

The English paper three comprehension test was conducted last Thursday (Feb 16).

A check on TikTok revealed that some students claimed that the person in the video spoke too fast and in an odd accent.

Majoriti said they had reached out to the Education Ministry for a comment.