Tun Zaki can help solve exam leak problems - PAGE

Parents Action Group for Education (PAGE) is confident that former chief justice Tun Zaki Tun Azmi can do a good job in solving the problem of leaked papers for school exams in Malaysia.

Yesterday, Zaki was appointed to lead an independent nine-member panel to review the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate's standard operating procedure (SOP) for public examinations.

"We are delighted, and look forward the appointment of Tun Zaki and the other panelists.

"But in the end it's not about who are in the panel but how good a job is done. I Hope this would end the problem," said PAGE chairman, Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim when contacted by Astro AWANI today.

Nevertheless, she said Tun Zaki is known to be a very thorough person when handling cases during his tenure as the Chief Justice of Malaysia hence is capable in leading the panel.

Regarding the problem, the panel needs to anticipate all possible means of leaks and where all the loopholes are.

"For instance I was told by the chief invigilator that most schools have vaults where they keep the question papers, but some schools don't... they need to standardise this," said Noor Azimah.

Besides that, she also said there were schools that keep the question papers in old wooden cupboards, which were then infested with termites.

"We must avoid and curb any attempts to tamper the papers," she stressed.

When contacted, Zaki declined to comment further about his appointment.

Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin made the announcement on Zaki's appointment on Tuesday, and said the latter had accepted the appointment.

Muhyiddin also said the names of the eight members of the panel, officially known as the independent panel to study the management of public examinations handled by the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate, would be announced tomorrow or the day after.

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

Subsequently, the government suspended the director of the syndicate, Dr Na'imah Ishak, and the deputy director (operations), Dr Wan Ilias Wan Salleh, until after the completion of the investigation.

The police also arrested four men, among them a headmaster and two teachers, to help in the probe.

Muhyiddin said the panel would be given three months to improve the operations of the syndicate and the handling of public examinations.