6,247 straight-A scorers

Kedah student nation’s top scorer with 20A1s; S’wak’s top student from Sibu’s SMK Methodist with 14A1s

A total of 6,247 candidates scored As in all the subjects that they sat for in the 2007 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination, an improvement from 2006 when there were only 5,685 straight-A scorers.

Among the top scorers were Azali Azlan, from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA) Yan in Kedah, with 20A1s and a A2 and Quek Hai Ren of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Hwa Lian, who obtained 16A1s.

Kelvin Wong Xiawei, from SMK Methodist in Sibu, is Sarawak’s top student with 14A1s.

Education director-general Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom, in announcing the SPM and Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM) results yesterday, said that generally there was improvement last year, with 382,286 candidates getting their certificates compared with 358,060 in 2006.

He said 347,032 candidates or 90.8 per cent of those who obtained the certificates were from government schools.

Of the straight-A achievers, 5,060 or 81 per cent were candidates from government schools, an increase of 5.2 per cent, compared with 4,311 (75.8 per cent) in 2006.

A total of 439,255 candidates sat for the examination last year.

He said 1,072 of the top scorers, including 892 candidates (83.2 per cent) from government schools, obtained 1A in all subjects compared with 1,280 candidates last year.

“A total of 58,519 candidates from government schools scored at least grade 6C in all subjects in the 2007 SPM,” he added.

He said only 2,911 candidates (7.5 per cent) failed in the examination.

On the performance of physically disabled candidates, Alimuddin said 189 or 53.2 per cent of the 355 candidates obtained the SPM certificate and they included blind student, Loh Wei Siong, from SMK Batu Lintang in Sarawak who scored six A1s and two A2s.

According to Alimuddin, the 2007 SPM candidates were the first batch of students under the learning of Science and Mathematics in English programme which was introduced in 2003 when thery were in Form One.

He said the programme did not affect the students’ performance in science and mathematics.
“In fact, there was improvement in the results for Additional Mathematics, Physics and Biology at the national level as well as among urban and rural students,” he added.

He said the results also showed significant improvement in the candidates’ performance in English where those who scored at least grade 6C for English 119 would be awarded with the O-level GEC certificate.

Alimuddin said effective last year, candidates who took Principles of Accounts and obtained good results for the paper would be issued with a certificate from the London Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and be exempted from sitting for the Certified Accounting Technical One (CAT) of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

Last year, a total of 778 candidates who sat for the Principles of Accounts paper were chosen for the LCCI programme and 692 succeeded in getting the certificate, he added.

On the performance of STAM candidates, Alimuddin said 3,341 or 67.9 per cent of the 4,920 candidates passed the examination, a drop from 71.5 per cent last year.

“Seventy-four of the candidates scored distinctions in all the 10 subjects they sat for,” he added.

–Bernama