Helicopter crash: SMK Balung SPM students to be relocated - Kamalanathan

The Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination for the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Balung, Tawau in Sabah will be conducted in a different location if the structure of the school building is found to be unsafe.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan said it was to ensure the safety of students.

"If the school was chosen as an examination centre, we have to relocate for the students to take the SPM," he told reporters after launching the Indian Community Centre (MICC), here today.

He was commenting on the emergency landing incident of the Royal Malaysian Air Force helicopter at the school, which caused minor injuries to eight students.

The SPM exam is scheduled to begin from Nov 7 to Dec 6.

Elaborating further, Kamalanathan said the school was closed today until the authorities had completed their investigation on the incident.

Earlier when officiating the MICC, Kamalanathan said the establishment of the centre could help the government to tackle issues affecting the people pertaining to welfare and not having birth certificates and identity cards.

"In Gemas, we Barisan Nasional (BN) have been providing great service to the people here and the presence of MICC, a non-governmental organisation, can be an added value to the efforts undertaken by BN," he said.