The Education Ministry today clarified that Year One pupils in Chinese schools will not have to sit for the Science and Mathematics examination papers twice first in Mandarin and later in English next year.

After chairing an hour-long post-cabinet meeting at his office in Kuala Lumpur, Education Minister Musa Mohamed told reporters that all Chinese schools will provide bilingual examination papers, both in Mandarin and English, on the two subjects.

Last Friday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Year One pupils in Chinese schools would have to be tested on the two subjects in both languages.

This was following Barisan Nasional's acceptance of the alternative implementation for the language switch in Chinese primary schools, as proposed by Chinese-based parties in the ruling front.