Postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the exams finally got underway with a total of 401,105 Form Five students from the class of 2020 sitting for tests across 3,310 centres nationwide.

Lee Jehn Shen, a student from SMK Bandar Puchong Jaya (A), admitted that preparations have been “pretty challenging” considering the fact that schools were closed for most of last year.

“I wasn’t sure how hard the exams would be … (but) I feel I am relatively better prepared for the exams than my friends, and I’m confident I will pass,” he said.

SPM students returned to school on Jan 20 for some vital face-to-face interaction with teachers and last-minute preparations for their examinations after months of studying online.

While many students had previously voiced difficulties they faced with online learning, which they said left them underprepared for the SPM, Muhamad Danish Mohamad Nasir said the past month has helped him make up for lost time.

“Our preparations were affected since we could not go to school for months,” he said. “I was quite nervous heading into the exams and would pray every morning before going to school.

“But since classes resumed, we were able to catch up on the lessons we missed … and everything was all right today.”

Kapilan Rajasegaran, another SMK Bandar Puchong Jaya (A) student, also said he was badly affected by the gap in their school year.

He said the return to school last month “didn’t help too much” but he was grateful to have been able to use the time revising with teachers.

Shahazim from SMK Taman Tun Dr. Ismail said the education ministry’s decision to reopen schools was a relief for many as the students had faced many challenges with online learning.

Despite the abundance of online classes and learning material on the internet, he said he still felt unprepared.

“The school reopening was very helpful for the students. It helped us to complete the syllabus before sitting for the examination,” he said.

“Without the last-minute physical classes, I doubt we could have finished on time.”

Another student, Nurul Amani, lauded the school’s efforts to help the students prepare for the examination. Besides online classes, the teachers provided learning modules for the students which parents or guardians had to pick up via a drive-thru.

Asked whether this was the right time to hold the examination or if the students should have been given more time to prepare, Amani said the examination should not be postponed any longer.

“We have been waiting since November last year and now it is already February,” she said. “The longer we wait, the less motivated we become. Besides, we have to think about our plans for tertiary education as well.”

That view was shared by Nor Azlin, a parent who said she was unsure if her daughter had had enough preparations ahead of the examination.

“I’m worried if she needs more time to study,” she said. “However, I don’t think it would be a good idea to keep postponing the examination.”

Meanwhile, at SMK Damansara Utama, a girl who wanted to be known as Atikah said online learning provided by schools was insufficient for those taking the SPM – adding that she relied mostly on online tuition classes provided by private tutors.

“The paper just now was all right and I think it’s good that we are sitting for the exams now,” she said.

Another student, Moh Jing Yi, said the Bahasa Melayu papers went smoother than expected but noted that many of his friends generally felt ill-prepared.

When asked if he would have preferred having more time to study, he said: “Yes, obviously, who wouldn’t?”

Speaking on the Covid-19 standard operating procedures for public examinations, he added that needing to keep the masks on throughout the exam was uncomfortable.

“But mostly, I think the main complaint is the time – we didn’t have enough time to prepare. Although they keep saying we had more than enough time, online studying doesn’t really work that much,” he said.

He also said most of his friends relied heavily on private tuition teachers who offered online classes.

“I just want SPM to be over,” said his friend.