Over 211,000 students failed or skipped SPM from 2019 to 2021, says NGO

 

Most of the students who failed or did not sit for the exam were from B40 households that were most affected by the Covid-19 movement restrictions when schools had to shut down for a total of 42 weeks in 2020 and 2021. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: A study by an NGO has found that up to 211,544 SPM candidates either failed the high school examination or did not sit for it from 2019 to 2021.

The study by Untuk Malaysia on school dropouts, which was published in January, revealed that in the three-year period, 140,474 candidates did not obtain their certificate because they failed either Bahasa Melayu or History, or both. Another 71,070 candidates were absent throughout the all-important examination for school leavers.

The report did not state the factors that caused the students to fail or drop out. However, it came to the conclusion that children from B40 households were affected the most when schools had to shut down, with only online classes available, for a total of 42 weeks in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“They could not attend online classes because they did not have any laptops or stable internet access,” Untuk Malaysia said.

The movement control order (MCO) was enforced from March 18, 2020 to December 31, 2021 to contain the pandemic. During that period, a “learn from home” system was introduced.

Three-year data

According to the report, in 2021, a total of 70,455 out of the 407,097 candidates registered for SPM did not receive their certificate.

Out of the 70,455 candidates, 45,514 failed while 24,941 were absent.

In 2020, of the 401,105 candidates, a total of 62,446 did not obtain the certificate – 43,235 failed and 19,211 absent.

In 2019, of the 416,416 candidates, a total of 78,643 did not obtain the certificate – 51,725 failed and 26,918 absent.

The three-year data was taken from the SPM results analysis prepared by the Malaysian Examinations Council (MEC).

“The students who failed to obtain the SPM certificate cannot further their studies and this will prevent them from getting a well-paid job compared with the rest of their peers,” the NGO said lamenting an uncertain future for these youths.

FMT has contacted the education ministry and the MEC for a response. - FMT