ALOR SETAR, June 11 — The Education Ministry (MOE) is studying the factors that contributed to the non-attendance of Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) students on their examination day.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the move was taken to enable the ministry to make appropriate interventions to ensure better student attendance in the coming years.

"I think there are many factors, which must be urgent to the extent that the students had to miss the examination. So, the matter needs to be examined, which will require time and we will make appropriate interventions.”

"Whether the matter is a concern or not, it depends on the findings we get...this is because we have various candidates, they are not only under the MOE schools, but also private candidates and so on,” she said when met after visiting Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan (SMKJ) Keat Hwa here today.

She said this when asked to comment on a report in a local newspaper today which stated that a total of 14,858 or 3.8 per cent of the 388,832 candidates who registered for the 2022 SPM did not attend the examination.

Based on an analysis by the MOE, there was an increase in the number of SPM candidates who did not attend the examination last year, compared to the 2021 SPM which recorded 10,681 or 2.7 per cent absent candidates out of a total of 392,837 registered candidates.

Meanwhile, Fadhlina said more than 90 per cent of the candidates who sat for the SPM last year obtained their certificate, compared to only 80 per cent the previous year.

The focus by the MOE is to further increase the percentage of candidates who obtain the certificate, she added.

When asked about the proposed move to improve the History syllabus, Fadhlina said every subject taught in schools had its own cycle.

"The school curriculum is monitored by experts...as for now, it will remain as it is until the cycle ends and when the time comes, the ministry will look into all subjects, not only History,” she added. — Bernama