The Malaysian Insight

AN education group has urged the authorities to send all Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) students due to sit for their exams soon to undergo Covid-19 tests.

Badan Pemuafakatan Pendidikan Mara Malaysia (Muafakat) president Sayed Alfeizal also said either Mara or the government should assume the costs of the screenings.

He added that the group represented 80,000 MRSM parents.

“Without the help of the government or Mara, our suggestion for tests may burden the parents.

“If a PCR test costs at least RM250, then the government or Mara must help.

“It will burden the parents if we ask them to bear the costs during this pandemic,” Sayed told The Malaysian Insight.

He said this was a preventive measure that can be taken to reduce the risk to students who will be sitting for their SPM soon.

Recently, there were cases detected at MRSM Tun Ghazali Shafie in Kuala Lipis, MRSM in Sungai Besar and at the Kuala Nerang Mara colleges.

The latest Covid-19 cases were detected at MRSM Bentong.

On Thursday, director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said his department had detected eight cases among students and staff of an educational institution in Bentong.

Mara in a statement also confirmed the matter, saying that the college management has taken steps to manage the spread of the pandemic.

Sayed said they have to look for an appropriate time to do the screenings as the SPM exams are two weeks away.

“If the tests were done one week before SPM and then the results are in two or three days before the exams, what will happen if someone is positive?

“So, it is better to do it (tests) earlier.”

The government had said that the Covid-19 tests were not mandatory for students who are returning to study at their hostels.

Sayed also urged the government to postpone the admission of form four and five students for the 2021 sessions.

“Let the SPM students sit for their 2020 exams. If there are too many students, then it will be difficult to control.”

Sayed also said the standard operating procedure needs to be tightened for students, teachers and staff.

He added that he was disappointed with news reports that made inaccurate statements about MRSM Bentong, which implied Muafakat did not do anything about the situation there.

“It is not that we are shunning away but we didn’t get any official statement. Maybe the communication was between the parents and the students.

“Maybe some of them got the information late and then blamed us, that Muafakat is hiding the issue.

“We are in constant communication and always there to assist. Even in Bentong, the Muafakat branch has given out Vitamin C and mineral water to the students.” – February 6, 2021.