KUALA LUMPUR – MCA president Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong has said that it was alarming that 90,000 SPM candidates have failed mathematics, while another 52,000 did not pass their English examinations.
“This is a worrying trend. My question to the Education Ministry (MoE) is what initiatives are being implemented to overcome this problem?
“According to the MoE’s reply, candidates are given opportunities to retake the exams through SPMU (the repeat examinations) but they are only allowed to retake three subjects, namely Malay, history and mathematics. Perhaps English should be included too,” he said in a Facebook post.
In the post, Wee shared screenshots of a parliamentary reply on the steps taken by the ministry in addressing the high number of failures in the subjects.
Among others, the ministry pointed out that it is conducting the District Transformation Programme to address the matter, and that it will continue to implement such initiatives to help teachers through various ways, including the STEM Executive Consultation Project.
Wee also stressed that the country’s education agenda, such as the Malaysian Education Development Plan 2013–2025, must achieve its objectives.
“Thank you to all teachers for always doing their best as educators to ensure the success of our students,” said Wee.
People posted their additional suggestions in the comments section under Wee’s Facebook post.
One commenter named Najmi Razak said that the mathematics subject should be practised more with students.
“Teachers aren’t supposed to point out one or two easy examples in the textbook, then ask students to solve the difficult questions by themselves. The teacher should show how to solve 20 to 30 questions first,” said Najmi.
Another commenter, who goes by the username Pena Pena, said there “is a lot (to learn) in the (current education) syllabus and it is too advanced.” They suggest for the syllabus to be reviewed again. – October 12, 2023