Academic accreditation and recognition can only be achieved if there is confidence and credibility in our education system, or else it would only end up becoming another hollow academic progression. Education should be met with quality in its product. There is no point harping on accreditation and recognition when the graduates we produce do not meet the standard required of them in the service and business sectors.

Malaysia is striving to become an education hub in this region and this could only be achieved if quality education is offered to locals as well as foreigners. Students and parents would have more confidence in our education system if no controversy exists in the systems and processes we adhere to. A case in point is, besides offering quality teaching to students, there should not arise any controversy with regard to our public examination system.

It is all parents' fervent hope that the higher authorities related to the education process restore confidence in our public examination system and scrupulously look into ways to safeguard public examination papers from leakages. The announcement by the Education Ministry, lately, that pupils need not re-sit some of the recent UPSR papers must be a big relief to some parents. It was found that there was no leakage of examination papers but only similarities in questions predicted by tuition and school teachers prior to the examination.

To some others though, it would still linger on their mind as to how these similarities could happen when in some cases the questions turned out to be the same. Rigorous and commonsensical thoughts would tell us that when the probability of similarities is too high then there is basis for this qualm. Blame not the parents for this discernment.

Be that as it may, a controversy of this nature over a public examination should not have occurred in the first place. Teachers and parents should be aware that the fundamental purpose of an examination is to test a candidate's knowledge and skill. Students should be exposed to a healthy competition, thus.

Unfortunately, examinations for long have been hijacked by some for other undignified purposes. It has become too competitive these days that some people out there are willing to do anything devious to divulge or get some information on questions that would appear in examinations.

The authorities should be more proactive by taking extra preventative measures to avoid such a controversy. No examination setters or examiners should be allowed to go round giving talks on what pupils would expect in examinations. These personnel are a big draw at all learning centres, as students hope for them to divulge some information on the questions they and the other panelists have submitted to the examination syndicate and how the scripts are examined.

It has now become too common for talks to be held at all centres and even at hotels drawing a big crowd of students - some of whom have to pay a hefty sum to attend. It has become a good business indeed, alas at the expense of integrity as far as examinations are concerned.

In effect, there should not be any compromise on the reliability of examinations. We do not want an examination system of diminishing value to the society. The authorities thus should infuse indubitable thoroughness into public examinations so as to avoid any form of controversy in the future. There has to be an adequate question bank with copious questions submitted by examination panelists spanning over a number of years.

Ensure that only a minimum number of persons with integrity do the final selection of questions to be printed for the year. They should be under oath and should not in any circumstances let slip the questions to anyone. Those who are directly and indirectly involved in examinations should not be allowed in any manner whatsoever participate in any talks or seminars pertaining to examinations. There has to be tight safety measures throughout the process from setting to printing and distributing - to avoid the hoaxing, abuse and pilfering of examination papers.

Every parent's desire is to have their children pass with flying colours and the onus is on the authorities to devise a refined mechanism that would help preserve the integrity of public examinations. If there is too much controversy with regard to examination papers, the spirit of competitiveness would begin to diminish.

This is unfair to students who have genuinely studied hard for the examination, as well as to those rural students who have no access to talks and seminars on examinations by those key persons involved in examinations. It is the hope of every student to compete in a just manner and let us be fair to them all.

What's more, we do not want our education standards to slide and the country end up producing inept graduates who would not be able to live up to their paper qualifications.

The writer is a lecturer at Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Bandar Muadzam Shah campus.