15 Students Failed their SPM Because They Brought Their Phones into The Examination Hall

In 2013, it was announced that it is mandatory for students to pass the subject of History, as well as Bahasa Melayu. Failing either or both would result in a student failing the entire examinations altogether. The usage of mobile phones are banned in Malaysians schools, despite numerous petitions to overturn this rule.

However, a Facebook user shed further light into the story, providing details of what allegedly happened on the day of the exams.

Naya… Harap ada solusi terbaik… pic.twitter.com/ihiQgvjTxf

— Fedtri Yahya?? (@fedtriyahya) July 7, 2022

He said that paper two of the History exams had started later and the exam Head Invigilator had started the exams in a disorderly manner, making students rush into the hall. According to the students, the Head Invigilator had failed to make the usual announcement about banned items in the exam hall.

The 15 students in question had forgotten and took their phones into the hall as it has become a habit for them to place their phones into their pockets.

However, after the exam had started, the Head Invigilator made an announcement asking any student who had brought in phones into the hall to hand over their phones with the promise that action would not be taken against them. However, this promise was not kept.

Despite submitting an appeal twice, the Parent-Teacher Association of the school failed to overturn the decision of the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE).

They received a letter from the Examination Director of the Examination Board that after analysing all the evidence regarding the case, they had decided to fail all 15 students and that the decision was final.

15 orang pelajar Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah (SAS) digagalkan subjek Sejarah SPM 2021 atas sebab bawa phone masa exam.Gagal Sejarah adalah gagal SPM. Sama macam kalau korang gagal Bahasa Melayu.Kenapa bawa phone? Aduhh??‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/TR13sL4QfV

— SHAHKLANG | ?? (@theShahklang) July 7, 2022

This has resulted in several effects for the students as they will be unable to receive their SPM certs, they must resit for their SPM papers, they will be unable to apply for Unit Pusat Universiti (UPU), receive scholarships or even apply for any university. Apparently all 15 students were students who did well in their exams and some had even received 7A+s.

When asked about the matter, Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin said that they would not interfere as it would create havoc in the context of exam implementation.

Netizens have chimed in on the matter online, one saying that they were not even caught cheating, most students simply use their phones to revise:

yang dekat komen marah marah kenapa lupa ni korang takbaca the whole report ke? exam start lambat, kp lupa nak bagitahu rules macam biasa. kebanyakan kitorang revise nota straight from the phone so normallah lupa sometimes. this is not fair at all. diorang tak meniru pun.

— ra (@gy4luu) July 8, 2022

This netizen also said in current times, many students use their phones to study:

Zaman awak lain bang.. zaman kami ni notes dalam phone.. kalau nak di print nota sejarah tu mahu gondol hutan malaysia ni.. lagi satu dah memang sop kp bagitahu .. tempat saya elok je kp umum kat dia b4 exam dan serah balik nanti pulang..

— ????Dato' Paduka Zafran (@bujangbebel) July 8, 2022

Another said that the students should take accountability for their actions:

Ap payah sgt ke x bawak phone learn to take accountability la

— Not simp (@Nothingseri0uS) July 8, 2022

What do you think about the decision?