Meeting on UPSR leaks

SUNGAI SIPUT: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will chair a high level management meeting of Education Ministry officers tomorrow to discuss preparations to replace the leaked papers of the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examination.
"Under normal circumstances such meetings are left to the examination board but this time around I want to find out in-depth the procedures involved.
"We do not want such incidents to recur...we will tighten the present security aspects and fine-tune them," Muhyiddin said after opening the Sungai Siput Umno division building here today.
More than 470,000 Year Six students will sit for the two papers again on Sept 30.
"We need to know the weaknesses. Is it from the storage rooms, schools or at the printing source?" he said.
"We have asked the board to set new questions. Even then it must be done in a secure manner before the board decides which paper to be used."
Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, stressed that those involved in handling examination papers must be responsible and trustworthy.
There are 300 secured storage rooms where the papers are kept, with only authorised personnel having access to them.
"The UPSR is to gauge the performance of the pupils ... but the parents have taken it seriously, although they will move to Form One even if the pupils fail," he added.
Parents should console their children so that they would not feel the pressure or burden of re-sitting the papers.
"We must ensure that the company picked to print the papers follows the standard operating procedure (SOP) with regards to security, like other government security documents."
Meanwhile, MCA Selangor Youth Education bureau chief Datuk Lawrence Low said a thorough investigation must be carried out followed by stern action as the leak has raised questions on the integrity of the Malaysia Examination Syndicate.
"This issue involves more than 470,000 students nationwide and it will result in many direct and indirect complications to many parties including psychological impact on the students," he said in a statement today.