The Ministry of Higher Education has agreed to the proposal for exam-free weekends.
The Director-General of Higher Education has been requested to undertake a detailed conversation with universities about the idea to have institutes of higher learning (IPT) not hold exams from Friday to Sunday.
Datuk Seri Noraini Ahmad, Minister of Higher Education, said the ministry permitted IPTs to prepare and implement their tests as they saw fit through their Faculty Senate.
“Yang Berhormat Tuaran (Datuk Seri Madius Tangan) believes that IPTs should not conduct exams from Friday to Sunday. The suggestion has been warmly received by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE).
However, unlike other public examinations such as Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, the examination system at IPTs is not centralised. “All IPTs have various academic calendars,” she stated today as the Dewan Rakyat debated the resolution of gratitude for the Royal Address to the ministry.
Meanwhile, she stated that by 2025, the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Tawau campus will be refurbished and fully operational.
Noraini stated that the campus would provide relevant courses as well as full courses, eliminating the need for students in Sabah to travel outside the state.
Meanwhile, when wrapping up the debate on the same motion for the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (KeTSA), Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources (KeTSA), informed that electricity disruption in Sabah was caused by problems with the distribution system, which accounted for 97.7% of the total, followed by generation (1.5 percent), and delivery (1.5 percent) (0.8 percent).
Wildlife interference, cables entangled in trees, cable degradation, and overload caused by unauthorised connections, he said, were among the issues causing the disruption of energy supply at the distribution level.
To reduce the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) in Sabah, KeTSA has formed a Special Task Force led by the Energy Commission, which includes KeTSA officers, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB), industry representatives, and technical experts. “The Special Task Force will formulate an action plan to reduce SAIDI in Sabah by 2025,” he said.
Takiyuddin stated that KeTSA aimed to cut SAIDI downtime in the state to 150 minutes by 2025, down from 332 minutes last year.
The meeting will resume the next day.
