SPM results postponement due to 'integrity' issues

KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry has postponed the announcement of the 2016 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia(SPM) results for "integrity" reasons.
Education Deputy Director-General (Education Development and Policy) Datuk Seri Khairil Awang said the decision was made to protect the integrity of the results.
"We have released a statement that we have postponed the announcement of the (2016) SPM results.
"To me, what's more important is that we can protect the integrity of the results and the date of announcement should not be the focal point," Khairil said during a press conference after he launched three books at the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka building here today.
Education Director-General Tan Sri Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof had released a statement on Feb 14 confirming that the results would be released on March 16 instead of March 2.
The announcement came amidst a circular on social media, purportedly from the Examinations Syndicate, saying that the 2016 SPM results will be released on March 16 instead of March 2 as originally planned.
According to the viral circular, the postponement was due to a lack of funds to repair the optical mark reader (OMR) processing machine which is used to tabulate the results.
The circular carried the signature of the Examinations Syndicate director Datin Nawal Salleh.
Khairil declined to answer questions if the reason provided in the circular was valid.
"Let's just focus on today's event, you can contact me for feedback on other issues some other time," he said.