KUALA LUMPUR: The installation of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras at 526 strong rooms where the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) question papers are stored will hopefully prevent any leaking of the questions, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said the immediate measures to tighten up security control on the flow of movement of the SPM question papers had been taken after the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) question papers were leaked earlier.

“These include the methods of preparing the questions right up to the packing stage. If any tampering occurs, it can be identified,” he told a media conference after observing the first day of the examination at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Kiaramas yesterday.

Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, said the delivery of the questions papers to the examination centres was carried out with security assistance from the police.

He also disclosed that appropriate preparations had also been made in the states likely to be hit by floods to ensure that the examination could be conducted in proper conditions.

Muhyiddin wished the candidates success and advised them to be calm when answering the questions and to apply whatever they had learnt in class and additional classes in the best manner possible.

A total of 455,839 SPM candidates sat for the Bahasa Malaysia examination paper at 3,655 examination centres throughout the country yesterday.

Of the candidates with special needs, 20 have intellectual disability, blindness (23),  impaired speech (1), impaired hearing (208), impaired vision (134), cerebral palsy (26) and other disabilities (645).

A total of 29,607 examination workers and 22,989 invigilators are involved in this year’s SPM, which will end on Dec 4. — Bernama

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 4, 2014.