KRI: Rising trend in SPM absenteeism that started with Covid-19 lingers to this day

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 — The alarming trend of Form 5 students sitting out of the crucial SPM examinations seen in 2023 was a continuation of the fallout sparked by prolonged school closures during Covid-19 lockdowns, Khazanah Research Institute said in its latest state of household report released today.

In 2023, up to 10,000 SPM candidates had missed the school-leaving examinations that would have a significant bearing on what sort of jobs they could land as working adults.

While the number of SPM absenteeism did reduce compared to the pandemic period, KRI researchers said the rate of Form 5 students sitting out of the exams was still higher than before the Covid-19 crisis, calling it a concerning trend because that could have long-term implications.

Those without SPM certificates often end up with unskilled work that pays below the poverty line, while those with it have a better chance at securing higher-paying employment.

“Indeed, this trend is concerning, as absenteeism can have long-term implications for students’ educational trajectories and prospects,” the think tank said in its report.

“Addressing the root causes of absenteeism is crucial to ensuring that all students have the opportunity to complete their education and succeed academically.”

School disruptions were one of the worst impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic as the cycle of lockdowns imposed between 2020 and 2022 forced school closures and prevented face-to-face learning that is crucial for a pupil’s development.

The negative effects of the disruption was disproportionately heavier for students from poorer households, especially those from rural areas where income is lower and access to tools needed for remote learning more expensive.

KRI researchers noted that these disruptions can lead to significant declines in school enrolment and student achievement and recovery from them may take years.

In 2022, as the world gradually reopened from lockdowns, over 13,000 registered candidates had sat out of their SPM examinations. Data from the Ministry of Education indicated family issues, accidents, illnesses and candidates’ employment as among the key reasons for the absenteeism.

“Increased dropout rates are a significant outcome of emergency school closures and other educational disruptions. Generally, as children grow older, the opportunity cost of staying in school rises,” the researchers said.

“This, in turn, makes it more challenging for households, especially those under financial strain, to justify sending older children back to school after an interruption.”

One of the most immediate manifestations of this high rate of absenteeism is the students’ Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) performance.

Even before the pandemic, Malaysia’s Pisa performance had already been a topic of concern, with the country consistently ranking below the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and ASEAN-6 averages.

Pisa ranking is important because it assesses not only whether students can reproduce knowledge, but also whether they can extrapolate from what they have learned and apply their knowledge in new situations, according to the OECD which developed the system.

KRI researchers noted that the most recent Pisa results, released in 2022, showed a declining trend from 2018 in all three categories: reading, mathematics and science, with disparities more apparent between private and public schools, particularly in Mathematics.

“Concerningly, Malaysia, which had 41 and a half weeks of full school closures, showed a significant reduction in the 2022 Pisa compared to its performance in the 2018 Pisa. Malaysia’s average Pisa scores dropped by -26.9 per cent in Reading, -31.5 per cent in Mathematics and -21.3 per cent in Sciences,” the report said.

“While there may be other factors that could have influenced the decrease in performance, it is highly likely that the long school closures contributed significantly to the decline in scores between the 2022 and 2018 Pisa.”

Even then, what data of trend on SPM absenteeism presented in the report may still not capture the entire picture, and more in-depth studies are needed, the report noted.

KRI researchers called on policymakers to address “underlying issues”, particularly those related to health, social and financial aspects, faced by students from various household income backgrounds that may have sparked the rise in SPM absenteeism.

The government was also urged to address the prevalence of early employment amongst students in secondary school.

In its concluding remark, the think tank said learning losses from Covid-19 calls for recovery measures to prevent long-term education losses such as lower education attainment, higher unemployment in adulthood and lower expected lifetime earnings.

“As Malaysia moves forward in its education agenda, recovery measures need to be well formulated and targeted,” it said.