JOHOR BARU: The Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations will continue as scheduled even though Jan 6 has been declared a holiday for civil servants in Johor.
State education and information committee chairman Aznan Tamin said the Johor government agreed to grant an extra holiday on Jan 6 to mark the shift to a Saturday-Sunday weekend.
“Even though public schools will be closed on Monday (Jan 6) as a special replacement holiday for civil servants in the state, the SPM examinations will still go ahead as scheduled," he said.
“We do not want to disturb the SPM students' momentum in sitting for such important examinations,” added Aznan after visiting Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Johor Baru on Thursday (Jan 2).
The Tanjung Surat assemblyman added that teachers and civil servants involved in SPM would be given space and time to take replacement leave after the examinations are over.
He said a total of 49,980 candidates would sit for the SPM written examinations, which started on Thursday at 376 centres, including 306 schools throughout Johor.
On Thursday, an official circular about the replacement holiday dated Dec 23 was issued by the Johor State Secretary Office’s Human Resources Management Department.
The circular states that the replacement holiday is due to the transition period between the last week of 2024 and the first week of 2025, in which civil servants will be working for six days, including Friday.
It is learnt that schools will also be closed on that day, but the special holiday will not affect the ongoing Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examinations.
On Oct 7, Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim announced that the state would change its weekends to Saturday and Sunday.
This followed the consent and blessings from His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, and after considering the views of the Johor Islamic Religious Council, he added.
This ends the 11-year period in which Johor observed Friday and Saturday as its official rest days since Jan 1, 2014.
The change was implemented following a decree from Sultan Ibrahim in conjunction with his 55th birthday celebration on Nov 23, 2013.
This adjustment marked a reversion to the state’s original weekend during its days as an Unfederated Malay State.
Johor only switched to a Saturday and Sunday weekend in 1994, during Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s tenure as mentri besar.
