UPSR leaks: Four men remanded to assist investigation

Police have obtained a four-day remand order against four men including a school headmaster and two teachers to assists investigation in connection with the leaks in the Science and English papers in this year's Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) examination.

Magistrate Nur Dahlia Azmi issued the remand order which was to begin from today until this Thursday on the men who are aged between 30 and 50 years for investigation under Section 8 (1) of the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972.

The headmaster and the teachers were from two different schools in Penang while the other man was an insurance agent.

Section 8 (1) of the OSA states that if any one person having in possession or control of any official secret or any secret official code word, countersign or password and communicates directly or indirectly any such information to any person other than a person to whom he is duly authorised to communicate, shall be guilty of an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term not less than one year and not exceeding seven years.

The men were represented by lawyer Ester Tan Siew Choo who had said that the police applied for a seven-day remand but the magistrate gave four days.

Following the leaks in the Science 018, 028 and 038 and English 014/1 and 014/2 papers last Thursday almost half a million UPSR students now have to resit the papers on Sept 30.

The fiasco sparked outrage among parents and students.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Education Minister had announced last Friday that the Examinations Syndicate director Dr Na'imah Ishak and its deputy director of operations Dr Wan Ilias Wan Salleh had been suspended with immediate effect pending investigations into the fiasco.