JOHOR BAHRU: The Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination will continue as scheduled, with standard operating procedures (SOP) in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 among students and teachers, says Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin.

He said although there was a significant increase in new COVID-19 cases, the percentage of patients involving categories four and five was small.

"The Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) is committed to ensuring that schools operate in a smooth, orderly and safe manner, by ensuring that all the SOPs set continue to be complied with.

"This commitment is made taking into account the smooth implementation of SPM 2020 in February last year, and we also already have a complete SOP in place for it," he told reporters after an engagement session with educators and the Kota Iskandar Parents and Teachers Association (PIBG) here today.

He said the situation now was also different, with more than 90 per cent of Form 5 students this year fully vaccinated.

SPM will begin on March 3 and end on March 29.

Regarding COVID-19 infection in schools, Mohd Radzi said there were cases involving teachers and students in school premises, but the percentage was very small.

"The school cluster is too small, involving only 0.5 per cent of the total number of non-boarding schools, which is more than 10,000 schools nationwide.

"Meanwhile, we (MOE) will continue to work with the Ministry of Health to ensure that schools operate in compliance with the SOPs set," he said.

In the meantime, Mohd Radzi encouraged more parents to register their children aged between 5 to 11 to get the vaccine through the COVID-19 Children's Immunisation Program (PICKids).

-- BERNAMA