TEN thousand of 30,000 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) candidates in 2022 who did not sit the exam have registered for the resit this year.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the number grew after the ministry extended the SPM 2023 registration period for private candidates.

“When we decided to find out the number of 2022 SPM dropouts and those who did not sit the examination last year, we were able to collect data of about 30,000 people.

“Praise be to God, we were able to identify them, and with some intervention via programmes by the ministry, including extending the registration period for private SPM candidates, we found that 10,000 of the 30,000 have registered to resit the examination this year,” she said.

Fadhlina told reporters this at the YES! Rock The School Edisi Mega Kedah 2023 programme at Aimst University, near Sungai Petani today, which was also attended by Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar.

On June 20, the media reported 30,000 candidates who did not sit SPM 2022 would get a second chance as the Education Ministry extended the SPM 2023 registration date for private candidates until June 30.

On June 13, media reports said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was concerned about the news of 30,000 students being absent from the SPM examination. He requested that Fadhlina investigate the issue and find a solution.

Fadhlina said the ministry is focusing on getting the remaining 20,000 students to register for the resit, and congratulated the 10,000 candidates who have already registered. – Bernama, July 30, 2023.