He said the state education ministry is open to holding talks with these schools on implementing the exam, which currently only involves national schools in Sarawak. The examination is administered by Cambridge University’s international exam board.

Dr Annuar Rapaee, Sarawak’s deputy minister for education, innovation and talent development, said all Year 6 and Form 3 students under the dual language programme (DLP) in Sarawak will sit for the state public examination in 2025 and 2028 respectively, Bernama reported.

“For example, SJKC (Chinese school) students who are not under DLP may want to sit for the examination. There are also private schools inquiring whether they can take the examination, and we are open to discussions,” he said.

He added that the examination would enable the ministry to evaluate the academic level of students across Sarawak, and identify schools that may be in need of assistance.