FOUR Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2023 papers scheduled on February 20 will go on despite the date being declared as a public holiday in Malacca in conjunction with the country’s Independence Declaration Day, said the state education, higher education and religious affairs committee chairman Rahmad Mariman.

He said this decision followed the state’s gazetting of February 20 as a new public holiday, replacing the previous declaration of Malacca as a Historical City on April 15 each year.

“So candidates of four SPM papers namely Manahij al ’Ulum al-Islamiah, Pendidikan Seni Visual, Pendidikan Muzik and Reka Cipta are reminded that the examination will go on as planned.

“A total of 4,528 students will be involved in the four papers in 84 examination centres with 335 invigilators involved,” he told reporters in Malacca today.

Earlier, he attended the Hari Rumah Mesra Rakyat with Malacca branch Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd at the state legislative assembly development and coordination committee in Ayer Molek.

The holiday was gazetted as the country’s Independence Declaration Day in conjunction with the announcement of independence of the Federation of Malaya by Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj at Padang Banda Hilir, Malacca on February 20, 1956.

Commenting further, Rahmad said a total of 12,900 candidates had registered to sit for SPM 2023 at 103 examination centres throughout the state compared to 12,907 candidates in 2022.

He said a total of 1,255 examination officers had been appointed to ensure the examination ran smoothly.

In the meantime, he also encouraged school students, congregations in surau and mosques to use face masks following an increase in Covid-19 cases in the state, especially those with symptoms.

“Even though there is still no order to wear face masks, we encourage them to wear to curb the spread,” he said.

Earlier, the media reported that the Malacca exco for health, human resources and unity, Ngwe Hee Sem announced that Covid-19 cases in the state in Epidemiology Week 48 which ended on December 2 showed an increase of 534 new cases compared to the previous week. – Bernama, December 15, 2023.