Pahang: The Pahang State Education Department (JPN) has identified 2,447 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) candidates as being at risk following floods that hit several districts in the state. Its deputy director (Planning and Management Sector) Hanita Kassim said that as of this afternoon, 122 of the candidates had been identified as flood victims, comprising 111 in Lipis, six in Temerloh, four in Kuantan, and one in Pekan.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the priority is to evacuate the SPM candidates affected by the floods as their schools or homes have been inundated. Tomorrow, all 413,372 SPM candidates nationwide will sit for the Mathematics (Multiple Choice) Paper 1 and Mathematics Paper 2 examinations. In a bid to ensure that examinations proceed smoothly, the Pahang JPN has taken early action to relocate the affected students.

Hanita highlighted that 109 SPM candidates from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Clifford, Kuala Lipis, were moved to SMK Kuala Lanar last Friday due to flooding at their school and examination hall. The examination hall at SMK Clifford was flooded at 4.23 pm, and all affected candidates were evacuated by bus to the hostel at SMK Kuala Lanar to continue their examinations.

The Pahang JPN has arranged for the evacuated candidates to sit for their examinations in two classes set up at SMK Kuala Lanar, while the existing candidates from SMK Kuala Lanar will continue to use their examination hall. In terms of overall preparations, the Pahang JPN is employing the Ops Payung Dashboard to monitor schools likely to be affected by the floods.

Hanita also mentioned that the state government is providing Juadah Makmur to all SPM candidates to ensure their welfare is taken care of. School canteens will make sure food is available at all times, with the respective Parent-Teacher Associations (PIBG) monitoring the situation. Agencies are also providing assistance such as mats and ‘toto’ mattresses for candidates evacuated to relief centres.

She further added that primary and secondary school students at risk of flooding are permitted to follow home-based teaching and learning, but they would need to return to school as usual when the situation improves.