Floods: 2,447 SPM Candidates At Risk, Says Pahang JPN

KUANTAN, Nov 30 (Bernama) -- The Pahang State Education Department (JPN) has identified 2,447 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) candidates as being at risk following floods that hit several districts in the state.

Its deputy director (Planning and Management Sector) Hanita Kassim said that as of this afternoon, 122 of the candidates had been identified as flood victims, comprising 111 in Lipis, six in Temerloh, four in Kuantan, and one in Pekan.

“Our priority is the SPM candidates, and we have taken early action to evacuate those affected, as their schools or homes have been flooded,” she told Bernama at the Pahang JPN today.

Tomorrow, all 413,372 SPM candidates nationwide will sit for the Mathematics (Multiple Choice) Paper 1 and Mathematics Paper 2 examinations.

Meanwhile, she said a total of 109 SPM candidates from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Clifford, Kuala Lipis, were moved to SMK Kuala Lanar last Friday due to flooding at their school and examination hall.

“The SMK Clifford examination hall was flooded at 4.23pm, and all affected SPM candidates were evacuated by bus to the hostel at SMK Kuala Lanar to sit for their examinations,” she said.

Hanita said all the evacuated candidates would sit for their examinations in two classes set up at SMK Kuala Lanar, while candidates from the school would continue to use the examination hall.

Commenting on overall preparations, she said the Pahang JPN was using the Ops Payung Dashboard to track schools likely to be affected by the floods.

Hanita also said the state government was providing Juadah Makmur to all SPM candidates to ensure their welfare was taken care of.

“Their school canteens will ensure that food is available at all times, and the respective PIBG (Parent–Teacher Associations) are monitoring the situation. The agencies involved are also providing assistance such as mats and ‘toto’ mattresses for candidates evacuated to relief centres,” she said.

Hanita added that primary and secondary school students at risk of flooding were allowed to follow home-based teaching and learning, but they would have to return to school as usual when the situation improved.

--BERNAMA