The 2012 Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) or Lower Secondary Evaluation Examination results announced today showed 30,474 or 6.92 per cent of the 481,424 candidates scoring A in all subjects.

Deputy director-general, policy and education development sector, Dr Amin Senin said it showed a drop of 0.85 percent compared with last year when 34,271 candidates scored A in all subjects.

“Nevertheless, the number of candidates who received E grade in all subjects dropped from 346 (0.08 percent) last year to 241 (0.05 percent) this year,” he said when announcing the 2012 PMR results in Putrajaya today.

Amin said based on Subject Grade Point Average (GPMP), seven subjects, namely, Bahasa Melayu, History, Geography, Integrated Living Skills, Arts Education, Tamil and Punjabi showed improvements in performances while 10 others showed a drop.

“Bahasa Melayu showed an improvement of 0.04 percent but the performance of English (0.12 points), Science (0.02 points) and Mathematics (0.01 points) showed a drop in performance.

Nevertheless, he said the overall achievement in 17 subjects was stable with the National Average Grade Index (GPN) maintained at 2.1 points as in 2011.

Rural-urban gap narrows

Likewise, despite the better achievement of urban candidates compared to rural candidates, the gap was narrowed by 0.03 GPN points, namely, from 0.29 points in 2011 to 0.26 in 2012.

“The achievement of urban candidates is maintained at GPN index of 2.61 points like last year, while the performance of the rural candidates showed an improvement of 0.03 GPN points, namely, from 2.90 GPN points in 2011 to 2.87 points this year,” he said.

According to Amin, the achievement of candidates with special needs had also gone up where 14 received Grade A in all subjects out of 1,736 students sitting for the examination, compared to 12 candidates out of 1,370 candidates last year.

“The number of candidates with special needs who did not achieve a minimum rate of mastery in all subjects was reduced by 1.14 percent, namely, from 2.41 percent in 2011 to 1.27 percent in 2012,” he clarified.

Amin said the number of students who scored A in Bahasa Melayu rose by 1.2 percent from 26.3 percent in 2011 to 27.5 percent this year.

Similarly, he said the percentage of candidates who exceeded the minimum competency level, namely, A, B, C, D rose by 0.4 percent, from 94.0 percent in 2011 to 94.4 this year.

But the percentage of candidates who scored excellent grades for English dropped 1.6 percent, from 18.4 percent in 2011 to 16.8 percent this year.

The percentage of candidates who did not pass the minimum mastery level, namely, E grade also rose by 2.8 percent from 21.3 percent in 2011 to 24.1 percent this year.

“For English, we expected a drop, because starting from last year a new book in the English literature component was introduced. We are still studying the other subjects,” he said.

According to Amin, the performance of Arabic, Chinese, Iban and Kadazandusun languages also dropped, compared to last year.

Similarly, the performance and GPMP of Islamic Education dropped whereby the the percentage of candidates getting A dropped by 1.5 percent, namely, from 24.4 percent in 2011 to 22.9 percent in 2012.

“In the elective language, Tamil (0.5 percent) and Punjabi (6.1 percent) showed an improvement in the percentage of candidates getting A,” he said.

This is also the case with Integrated Living Skills (KHB) subjects covering Technical Skills, Home Economy, Agriculture and Commerce and Entrepreneurship and Arts Education (Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts) also showed improvements.

In Kuala Lumpur, four schools scored 100 percent passes, namely, SM (Sains) Selangor, SMK Aminuddin Baki, SM Agama Kuala Lumpur and SMK Victoria.

Bangsar/Pudu Region Education Office deputy education director Ismail Musa said, overall, in Federal Territory, the state GPN in 17 subjects was better compared to the national GPN.

“A total of 1,838 of 23,530 candidates scored A in all subjects compared to 2,296 candidates last year.

Negri Sembilan among top five states

In SEREMBAN, state Education Department Evaluation and Examination Sector chief Pkharuddin Ghazali said Negri Sembilan was among the top five states in the 2012 PMR in terms of excellent students.

He said the GPN for PMR in Negri Sembilan was 2.65 whereby its value became smaller (became better) compared to 2.66 in 2011.

“A total of 1,500 candidates or 8.3 percent of all the candidates in government schools were successful in scoring 9A, 8A and 7A (Candidates who scored A in all subjects) this year,” he told reporters today.

He said among the best schools in 2012 PMR in the state were Kolej Tunku Kurshiah, SM Sains Rembau, Sekolah Datuk Abdul Razak, SM Sains Tuanku Ja’afar, SM Agama Persekutuan Labu, SMK King George V and SMK Agama Haji Mohd Said.

In SABAH, 922 of 23,330 candidates scored A in all subjects which was a drop compared to 1,025 last year and State Education director Dr Muhiddin Yussin said, overall, the achievement of PMR candidates in 14 subjects was the best in two years based on the GPN, namely, 3.01 this year compared to 3.03 last year.

“A total of 13 best schools in Sabah including SM Sains Sabah recorded 100 percent passes. The eight subjects which showed improvement were Bahasa Melayu, History, Geography, Mathematics, Science, Technical Skill, Home Economy and Islamic Education.   

“There was a drop in performances in English, Agricultural Skill, Commercial Skill and Entrepreneurship, Arabic, Chinese and Kadazandusun languages,” he said.

- Bernama