In 2012, 91.2 per cent of students who took the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations passed and got their certificates. For last year’s exams, on 85.2 per cent did.
Education director-general Datuk Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof denied the drop was due to History being made a must-pass subject from last year’s exams onward.
“History may have an impact to the decrease in the percentage of students receiving the SPM certificates but a combination of subjects contribute to fewer students who qualify.
“For instance, candidates who have passed History but failed Bahasa Melayu would still not be able to obtain the SPM certificates,” Khair said when releasing the analysis of SPM results at the Education Ministry today.
The percentage of candidates who passed History in 2013 was 86.6% compared to 80.3% in 2012.
As for Bahasa Melayu, the passing percentage was 91.4% in 2013 compared to 91.1% in 2012.
Khair said the overall SPM achievement in 2013 improved from the year before, with the National Average Grade at 4.93 compared with 5.08 in 2012.
