I will carry out the task to the best of my ability - Tun Zaki

Former chief justice Tun Zaki Tun Azmi has promised to do everything in his capacity as the head of an independent nine-member panel to review the Malaysian Examinations Board’s standard operating procedure for public examinations.

He said restoring public confidence towards the implementation process of public examinations in Malaysia should be made top priority.

“I will carry out this task to the best of my ability so that the integrity and trust of the people towards the overall process of implementing public examinations carried out by the Education Ministry can be fully restored.

“I also feel that this is an urgent matter that should be addressed and as such I have set the panel’s first meeting for September 24, 2014 to be held at the Examinations Board, Ministry of Education,” he said in a statement.

Apart from that, Tun Zaki said the committee will focus on efforts to review, examine and evaluate the Public Examinations management’s work flow and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), and proposing improvements to the process.

He also expressed his gratitude to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for the trust entrusted in him.

Muhyiddin in his capacity as Education Minister, announced the appointment of Tun Zaki on Tuesday.

He said, Tun Zaki had agreed to the appointment.

The committee was established following a leak in the Science and English Language examination papers for this year’s Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) last week.

The government has also postponed both exams to September 30 and suspended the Examinations Board’s director Dr Naimah Ishak and her deputy Dr Wan Illias Wan Salleh from their duties due to the seriousness of the incident.

Police have detained four men including a headmaster and two teachers to assist in investigations into the case.

Muhyiddin said the independent panel would be given three months to improve the Examinations Board’s operations and the process involving public examinations in the country.