SPM examinations for 2021 have been postponed to March next year, with oral and practical science tests to be held in February.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Radzi Jidin said online classes via the Teaching and Learning at Home (PDPR) programme will also continue for 25 days once the school holidays end on June 13.

“Taking into account the current situation (total lockdown), the ministry decided that we will implement the PDPR.

“The decision is also applied to private, international and expat schools which are registered under the education ministry,” he told a virtual conference today.

He said this will be followed by a mid-term break which will begin on July 16 or 17 before schools reopen on July 25 or June 26.

“Some may also ask what will happen next. We will inform the parents and students of the approach (to be taken) at least one week before school reopens (on July 25 or 26), based on the situation at that time,” he said.

"Meanwhile, the oral and practical science tests of the SPM will be held in February 2022 while the written tests will be conducted in the following month," he said.

"The decision was made after taking into account the current situation and challenges that the students need to go through. We are confident that things will run smoothly given the success of the SPM examination 2020," he said.

Radzi, who is the Bersatu information chief, brushed off Pakatan Harapan's accusation that the government’s failure in managing SPM/SPMV had caused a tremendous amount of mental and physical stress to students, teachers and parents.

He cited the way the government successfully managed the major examination despite all challenges faced by the government during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The examination was conducted in an extremely challenging period where no one had gone through since independence in 1957. Its implementation required thorough scrutiny. We set a date, then postpone it," he said.

He said a strict standard operating procedure was applied throughout the examination period while the students who experienced mild symptoms like cough would be placed in quarantine rooms to do their papers.

"The SPM 2020 examination papers were fully marked online," he added.

He also noted that the SPM 2020 certificate will be issued to the students one month after the result set to release on June 10.

Earlier today, Pakatan Harapan Education Committee urged the ministry to step up and prepare Form 5 students accordingly so that they will be well equipped to sit for the SPM and SPMV examinations.

"We cannot allow such failure to repeat itself this year. If it happens again, it only shows that the government has failed our future generation,” said Harapan Education Committee in a statement today.