Updated 4.17pm, 28 May 2009
NILAI, 28 May 2009: Starting next year, students sitting for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination will only be allowed to take a maximum of 10 subjects, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.
In line with the decision, there would also be changes in the grading system, Muhyiddin, who is the education minister, said.
“It will have many positive implications, one of course is that the teachers will be able to focus on the core subjects and they will also become much more specialised,” he told reporters after visiting the Education Complex project site in Bandar Enstek today.
He was accompanied by Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and Works Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor.
Muhyiddin said that of the half a million students who sat for the SPM examination, over 48,000 of them took more than 10 subjects.
He said that the decision would also ease the shortage of teachers for certain subjects.
Parents would also be able to save on the cost of sending their children to tuitions for the additional subjects, he added.
He also said that the ministry was serious in narrowing the gap between rural and urban students.
“The gap is not wide but there are disparities in aspects like examination results,” he said.
Towards this end, Muhyiddin said, the ministry would be implementing several changes during the 10th Malaysia Plan covering issues like infrastructure development, teaching staff and teaching methods.
“So we want school development in rural areas to be on par with those in the urban areas in terms of infrastructure and teaching facilities,” he said.
He said that taking the interest of teachers qualified to teach English, Science and Mathematics in the rural areas would be among the challenges that needed to be overcome in implementing the changes.
Although the ministry offered RM1,500 in allowance as an incentive for them to teach in rural areas, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, there were many other challenges that needed to be dealt with, he said.
Muhyiddin said he was now looking into how to make the lives of teachers in rural areas more comfortable, including providing them when housing facility.
The RM1.3 billion Education Complex is sited on a 400ha area and would house the Education Ministry as well as the Higher Education Ministry.
The project is scheduled for completion by end of next year. — Bernama
Eleen Ng says
About time this is done! I thought I would be seeing someone get 20 A1s soon.
Nicholas.C says
While this measure is in itself a good idea, from a broader perspective I feel this is yet again the Umno-led government’s half-baked solution to a hard problem.
One must ask the question, “Why are students taking so many subjects in the first place?”
The answer is quite bluntly, because of the racist and political system used in the allocation of scholarships, the number of scholarships available on pure merit to those from the wrong race or without connections are few. Hence the race to score more As to have a better chance at getting a scholarship.
Compared to the root of the problem, this measure is a band aid on an arterial bleed.
Semi Value says
So to ensure that the residential school students are able to compete with regular school students, Muhyiddin has placed a limit on the number of subjects that can be taken by regular students rather than allowing residential school students to add more SPM subjects.
Bravo! Surely this is another example of doing things Malaysian style. Once more mediocrity triumphs.
Should we now place a cap on the intelligence of our students, just in case some are just too smart. This is why Singapore is so very far ahead of us.
ashu says
In a way it is a good thing. However, if the standard of As is not raised, then there is no point in doing it either.The standard of our As is really worrying. Believe me, I am a recent SPM leaver ,and I have friends who always fail additional mathematics for instance and guess what they got for SPM? Bs and A2s !!! You don’t need me to tell you where the country is heading if we just keep lowering our standards for the sake of fulfilling certain policies.
BS says
Another great innovation by BN gov! Putting a LIMIT on child innovation and creativity is not a solution to it.
Let the parent or children decide for themselves.
jenz says
Maximum number of subjects being capped to 10 is basically not a bad idea but more importantly is to raise the standard of As. And what is the point of sitting for so many subjects when most of them are merely important subjects. Showboating?