No discrepancy in number of absent SPM candidates, says Education Ministry

KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry confirms that almost 30,000 candidates were recorded as absent for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2022 examinations.

Deputy Education Minister Lim Hui Ying said 29,663 absent candidates included those who registered to sit for one subject from the total of 388,832 candidates recorded for the SPM 2022 session.

"What the Prime Minister announced is the total number of SPM candidates who were absent as a whole, including those who registered for one subject.

"Former education minister (Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin) stated that 14,858 or 3.8% of SPM candidates who were absent for the 2022 examination was only limited to the students, including private candidates, who registered to sit for six subjects," she told Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (June 15).

Lim was replying to a supplementary question from Roslan Hashim (PN-Kulim Bandar Baru) on the SPM candidates who did not sit for the exam last year.

On Wednesday (June 14), Radzi (PN-Putrajaya) claimed that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had used figures that contradicted the number of those absent for SPM for the 2022 session reported by the Education Ministry.

On June 13, Anwar took a jab at Radzi's performance as the education minister during the Perikatan administration after 30,000 students were recorded to be absent during the 2022 SPM examination.

In another development, Lim said the ministry is committed to help teachers increase their digital skills for teaching and learning purposes.

She said the government had provided RM100 one-off cash aid as teaching aid incentives to 416,260 teachers involving an allocation of RM41.6mil last year.

"The assistance will continue this year with the provision of 50,000 laptops distributed to public schools to support teachers in line with the digitalisation efforts," she added.

Lim said this when asked by Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng (BN-Tanjung Piai) to list the continued assistance that would be provided for teachers who had to conduct both physical and online learning sessions due to the absence of students following the Covid-19 infection cases when the country was currently entering the transition to the endemic phase.