GOVERNMENT CHINESE SECONDARY IV EXAMINATION (Statement by the Minister for Education)

[Mr SPEAKER in the Chair]

Mr Yong Nyuk Lin: Mr Speaker, Sir, it is my pleasure to inform hon. Members that after the motion* was carried by a majority vote at 11.45 p.m. last night, first condemning the pickets for their unreasonable action, and, second, sanctioning police protection for students who wish to take their examinations and for their parents who accompany them, there were no more pickets today in any of the examination centres. A total of 628 students took supplementary papers today for the second compulsory paper of the examination in Elementary Mathematics, making the total number of students who have taken the examinations 2,145 so far, i.e., 68 per cent.

*The motion reads as follows:

That this House condemns the actions of the picketers in obstructing, intimidating or otherwise forcefully preventing students from taking their examinations, and in response to an appeal from parents of students who wish to take these examinations that they and their children should be offered Police protection, hereby resolves that this House approves of any action according to law by the Government through the Police to protect students wishing to take their examinations to ensure that they are not intimidated or injured, and that the students and their parents who accompany them are given free passage and access into and out of all examination halls.