MORE THAN HALF PASS SPM SUBJECTS

8,436 out of 230,465 candidates get A+, A, A- for all subjects, says Education D-G

THE 2018 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) results recorded a better national average grade (GPN) of 4.89 from 4.90 in 2017, said Education director-general Datuk Dr Amin Senin.

He said the improvement, though “small”, continued the positive trend, which had been recorded since 2015.

A lower GPN indicates better performance.

Amin said 58.9 per cent, or 230,465 candidates, obtained at least a pass for all subjects they sat, with 8,436 of them getting grade A+, A and A- for all subjects.

“The percentage of candidates, who are eligible to be awarded the SPM certificate, increased by 1.2 per cent, where 86.4 per cent of the 391,641 candidates who sat the examination last year are eligible to receive the certificate, from 85.2 per cent in 2017.”

He said generally, the achievement of last year’s candidates was better than those in 2017 and with a narrower gap, of only 0.04 per cent, in the performance of urban and rural candidates.

Amin said 296,673 candidates, or 75.8 per cent, were able to master two languages by obtaining at least a pass for Bahasa Melayu and English Language.

On those who failed in all subjects, he said this made up only 1.12 per cent of the total candidates.

Amin said overall results showed that 61.1 per cent of the last year’s candidates were able to master higher order thinking skills (HOTS) subjects.

He said 70.1 per cent of the candidates mastered the skills to evaluate, innovate (63.2 per cent), analyse (56.9 per cent) and apply (54.3 per cent).

“Thinking skills should always be nurtured.

“Mastering HOTS is important for candidates so that they can face challenges and compete at the international level.”

HOTS was introduced in SPM in 2014 to test candidates’ capability to apply knowledge in a new situation, to analyse, evaluate and innovate when answering their examination questions.

Amin said 1,194 candidates with special needs sat the exam and 61.2 per cent of them were eligible to receive the SPM certificate.

BERNAMA PIC Education directorgeneral Datuk Dr Amin Senin (left) showing the analysis of 2018 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia results in Putrajaya yesterday.