Keep politics out of schools: Classrooms are for learning, not partisan politics

The Education Ministry must be strongly rebuked for allowing a Perlis SPM trial History paper to feature questions regarding GE15 results and specific political parties. Education must remain strictly apolitical, neutral, and completely free from political meddling, influence, or pressure.

An immediate, thorough investigation must be launched. The ministry needs to:

• Identify Accountability: Determine who prepared these questions and identify which approval panel passed them.

• Explain the Lapse: Disclose how and why such content could ever be sanctioned.

• Take Action: Outline necessary remedial measures and transparently publish the full findings to restore public trust.

Examinations must evaluate students based solely on the prescribed syllabus. Partisan politics is not part of the SPM History curriculum; bringing political party performances into exam halls crosses an unacceptable line.

This practice sets a dangerous precedent. Awarding marks for commenting on political results risks subjecting students to the personal inclinations of examiners. Requiring "correct" answers on political performance could lead to the subtle mental conditioning of young minds to favour a specific party. Conversely, students holding differing political perspectives risk being penalised and unfairly marked down.

A student's political inclination is a confidential matter of personal preference. In a democracy, voting is secret, and most SPM students are under 18. Young learners should neither be appraised positively nor judged negatively for holding views that align with or oppose the prepared answers of the examining board.

Politicians and educational authorities are urged to keep partisan politics out of schools. Exam halls should cultivate objective, critical thinking within established academic frameworks, not serve as arenas for political appraisal. The Education Ministry needs to ensure future examination papers across all states remain entirely neutral and strictly grounded in the approved syllabus.

Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon

MCA education consultative committee chairman

MCA deputy president

Thank you for your report!

教育部必须受到严厉谴责，因为它允许玻璃市州SPM历史试卷中包含有关第15届全国大选结果和特定政党的问题。教育必须保持严格的政治中立，完全不受政治干预、影响或压力。

必须立即展开彻底调查。该部需要：

• 明确责任人：确定这些问题的出题人，并确定是哪个审批小组通过了这些问题。

• 解释违规行为：披露此类内容是如何以及为何会被批准的。

• 采取行动：制定必要的补救措施，并以透明的方式公布全部调查结果，以恢复公众信任。

考试必须完全依据规定的教学大纲对学生进行评估。党派政治并非SPM历史课程的内容；将政党表演带入考场是越过了不可接受的界限。

这种做法开创了一个危险的先例。对政治结果发表评论并以此评分，可能会使学生受到阅卷人个人倾向的影响。要求对政治表现给出“正确”答案，可能会导致年轻人潜移默化地倾向于某个特定政党。反之，持有不同政治观点的学生则可能因此受到惩罚，被不公平地扣分。

学生的政治倾向属于个人隐私，属于个人偏好。在民主制度下，投票是秘密进行的，而且大多数SPM考生未满18岁。对于年轻考生，无论他们持有与考官预设答案一致还是相悖的观点，都不应给予他们正面评价或负面评判。

政界人士和教育部门应敦促各方将党派政治排除在校园之外。考场应当在既定的学术框架内培养学生的客观批判性思维，而非沦为政治评判的场所。教育部必须确保未来各州的试卷保持完全中立，并严格遵循已批准的教学大纲。

拿督马恒顺博士

MCA教育咨询委员会主席

MCA副主席

感谢您的报告！