20% Passing Marks For SPM Mathematics And Science Exams?

According to some teachers who used to mark SPM answer scripts, the passing score could be as low as 20%, especially for subjects like Mathematics and Science.

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Teachers who have marked Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) answer scripts have claimed that the current pass mark for subjects like mathematics and science could be as low as 20%.

According to a recent report by FMT, this news follows the revelation that 90,000 of the 373,974 candidates who sat for the SPM examination last year had failed the mathematics paper.

Shockingly, more than half of these candidates would not have passed if the pass mark was 50%.

Concerns Over Grading System

However, the passing mark varies yearly as the Examination Syndicate only decides after reviewing and grading all the papers.

The report suggests that something is not right with our system of marking or grading as it seems to be catering to ensuring that the number of students passing any paper is kept at a respectable level.

The grades may not reflect the student’s mastery of the subjects.

This means that many students are walking around deluding themselves and Malaysians that they have scored good grades or have passed the papers.

Add math dulu, time trial spm 2.5/100 je markah abg dik…alhamdulilah SPM lulus..
— Syed Mohd Noor Al habshi (@Syed_Mohd_Noor) May 7, 2023

Lack of Transparency in Passing Marks and Grading

The Parent Action Group for Education chairman, Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, says that the education ministry is doing a great injustice to the students who are being lulled into a false sense of belief.

The ministry has started organising press conferences yearly to announce the number of straight-A students.

However, such statements create a false impression that these students may have scored very high marks, such as 80% to 90%, in the subjects they score an A.

Far from it, actually.

Because in some cases, a pass mark of even 65% falls in the A category.

The absence of transparency in the passing mark for the various subjects and grading of SPM results have led to many claims of manipulation.

Despite the denial of education ministers, current and past, that they do not manipulate the grading system, doubts will remain as long as it is not transparent.

"Education begins at home and a lot of parents very conveniently push the responsibility of education towards the teachers."

Parent Action Group for Education Chairman, Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim explains that parents influence their children's interest in education. #SPM… pic.twitter.com/U1YBsivEEg
— Sinar Daily (@sinardailymy) June 23, 2023

Calls for Return of Public Examinations

The other issue here is the apparent general poor performance in the SPM examination resulting in 70% of school leavers not continuing with tertiary education.

Schoolchildren no longer sit for a common public examination in their 10 years of schooling.

They sit for the SPM examination in the 11th year, which to many, is too long a time for them to see where they stand at a national level.

The Year Six primary school assessment test (UPSR) was scrapped in 2021, while the Form Three lower secondary assessment (PMR) was abolished in 2014.

There are no common public examinations until they reach Form Five.

Sure, they have school-based examinations, but teachers will tell you that these tests are not a yardstick without performances at a national level to compare.

Many doubts have also been raised about the quality and security of the examination papers being prepared and printed in schools.

In the past, we have seen news reports of such papers being leaked, forcing the students to re-sit papers.

Now that i have finished my degree, this makes sense. Low rate of employment in our studied course during degree have resulted in a slap of reality check that just because you continue your study doesn't mean you get a good salary/ job. This further proves to SPM students that- https://t.co/UgbbDb7rfk
— 💗 (@l1teqt) May 25, 2023

Need for Transparency and Accurate Reporting of Student Performance

Whatever they do, the fact remains that school-based assessments are not nationally standardised like the SPM examination.

In this context, calls for the return of at least one of the scrapped public examinations may have some merit.

A common examination when students are in Form Three will be a good idea as they will have two years after that to prepare for the SPM.

Such a system, plus transparency over the SPM passing marks and the grading system, can show Malaysians the actual quality of the students and not lull them into a false sense of achievement.

Therefore, it is essential that the government needs to be transparent and show Malaysians the actual figures.

READ MORE: 77% Of SPM Candidates Fail Or Receive Grade E In 2022 Results