SPM To Reduce Maximum & Core Subjects
May 31st, 2009 by James | This article was viewed 3,563 times.
On 30th May 2009, the Ministry of Education in Malaysia proved the naysayers of Malaysian education wrong by announcing to reduce the amount of core subjects from six to four by means of reducing the “My son/daughter scored 20As in SPM” frenzy. In addition to that, they also limited the maximum subjects allowed to take in SPM. From a general perspective, I must say the ministry is doing a good job, but until you look deeper into the roots only you will realize that it is not what it seems to be.
For years now Malaysia’s Sijil Pengajaran Malaysia (SPM) has been on a Maximum As scoring spree already and the ministry had decided to put an end to it starting 2010. Maximum subjects will go from unlimited to ten and to compensate for that, core subjects will go from six(Malay, English, Mathematics, Science, History and Islamic Studies/Moral Studies) to four to allow more space for electives. All the four core subjects are yet to be determined.
These decisions are decided based on the fact that parents have been pressuring their children to take more subjects, to eliminate the exam oriented education system and so on.
As news, I must say it is quite a welcoming one. First, students get to study for less subjects, second if History and Moral studies is not one of the core subjects (I hope so), then it would be a joy for almost all the students in Malaysia! Apparently, that is how you look at it from outside the box, now let’s tear open the box and see whats in it.
For more than 50 years Malaysia has not been capping subjects in SPM and we have been fine all along. This not only allows the student to enhance their broad knowledge, it also helps tuition centers to earn a living, both party win.
The pressure only starts to build when the examination results were scaled carelessly. That is when every parent thinks SPM is easy and starts to pressure their child to take more subjects (since they think it is easy). The fact is it is never easy to take more than 10 subjects, let alone 15 or 20. Then, the ministry decided to scale the results again to show the world how clever we Malaysians are, thus SPM becomes easier as the years go by.
The fact that a limitation of 10 subjects was introduced in SPM also allows me to think it as an act to limit the intelligence of Malaysian citizens. If a student has the capacity to take 15 subjects and score A in every single one of them (scaled or not), let it be. Why limit their potential to excel academically?
Exam oriented studying environment or not is a matter of how a student study for the exam. It has nothing to do with the amount of subjects taken.
Perhaps the ministry would like to consider abolishing or reduce the scaling of examination results and spend more time on making subjects more interesting at school. This would allow students to critically analyze their ability to even handle 10 subjects, or not.
Not only that, scholarship providers can also easily distinguish the best out of the best if scaling is abolished. Unlike the current scaled results where a straight 11A scorer can be an underdog in the university and be stripped out of their scholarship.
Also, imagine if SPM were to be capped and scaling were still to be done, everybody will be scoring 10 straight As. Now tell me, how is that good for anybody?
I am all in for the reduction of core subjects for SPM, since History and Moral Studies should not be taken into account to determine a student’s future. However the limitation of maximum subject is really a no-no for me since it spoils the education industry, spoil the students and confuse the scholarship providers.
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May 31st, 2009 at 6:20 am
you must be talking about the bell curve grading.
i doubt it will be abolished, if that happens there will be a massacre for certain type of students, if you know what i mean.
i think that the cap is a good thing, so students can do something else than studying 24/7. Cooking for example !
May 31st, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Bell curve grading will always exist, even in universities. It’s actually a way to tell where you stand compare to your fellow citizens. There’s no huge problem with SPM results as long as the subjects are capped.
The problem comes when there’s JPA scholarship. They are not doing a good job in looking for the right ppl.
There should also be different streams of education. Malaysia education only offered 1 stream for sec sch. 5 years no matter what. Whatever grades u get, u’ll promote. It’s not the case in Singapore. fail form 1 stay in form 1. Indonesia can compress a 7-year-malaysian education to 4 years.. how cool’s that.. So, there are different ways of finding the cream of the crop.
May 31st, 2009 at 1:36 pm
You got a point around the first half of the passage. Now, think this: If the 4 core subjects are Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mathematics and Moral, isn’t it the same? Since students will enrol for science anyway, there will be no need to make it a core subject. In the end, students will be choosing the same(or almost) 6 core subjects.
Maximum limit doesn’t limit students’ potential. Why? They can actually enroll for more subjects. But they have to PAY. The 10 subjects limit means that one can enroll 10 subjects maximum for FREE. So no worries, rich kids can still score more than 10 A1s. But poor kids will be in trouble. Still, no worries because there are all sorts of loans and scholarships available.
The new grading system will be horrifying though it will provide a rather detailed report of how well a student scores in different subjects. The ‘kiasu’ in me is objecting to this new system.
Feel free to rebuke or correct me. xD
May 31st, 2009 at 9:15 pm
I think the maximum subjects for SPM Exam should be limited up to 12 but not 10. Government wants 10 subjects because they think of capability of the bumi students and also in the favor of selection of JPA Scholars for some students.
Talks about JPA Scholars, the government must set a standard rules for the selection of the top students because every years JPA Selection Board get scores all the time. A laughing talks by foreigners that no one country like Malaysia has the type of working under ‘Black Box’ in selection of scholars. Like Indonesia, government scholarship only go to top students but not race and poor.
June 1st, 2009 at 9:51 pm
I am agree with I want to know that Australian students take place in this or not.
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Australian students is not in anyway affected by this. SPM is only for Malaysia.
June 7th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Limitations of the maximum subjects is not a problem, according to Muhyddin Yassin, the capping system is to let students to make use of their extra time for co-curriculum instead of academics only.
The only problem is the JPA scholarships. They have quotas for races. That’s what makes the distributions of scholarship unfair (in a sense). To put it simple, if the quota for chinese is full then Bumi is still vacant, even those normal results bumi can get the scholarship while the straight A’s chinese got outlisted. But we can’t blame JPA for this, it’s the system in Malaysia where Bumi gets the priority and the biggest portion.
June 13th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Its very informative and nice article. its very help for those who are looking for these kind of info somewhere on net. I know its not for me but I can tell some who ask me about this. thank.
June 16th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
From my point of view they should not cap the limitation on subjects that the student want to score. Why block their potential when there are so much within a youth? As we know youth can learn new thing easily and efficiently then those of adult why? Because young teen tend to engage their brain often and analyze thing around them. Unless you are talking about those who does not want a future or a dream then that’s a different story.
I always hate the government for playing with the race card. I mean everyone should be equal and everyone should have a chance.
To me history and moral are some of the most useless subjects don’t you agree? I’m a SPM student this year and I just can’t see through this because what is the “REAL” use in your life? in your work? in your dream? How can these two subject take into account to determine a student’s future? I might be wrong but this is my 2 cents.
June 17th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
I do not agree that you mentioned about even there is a bell-curve in all universities. Monash University for example does not have the bell-curve system!!!!
June 17th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
@Tommy,
History is a very important thing to learn before you learn anything. Learning the past of a subject (be it economy, a country or whatever) can free you from the mistakes people made in the past. However, as important as history may be, I don’t think it needs to be tested in examinations.
@Monash Student,
I’m sure PX2 forgot to type the word “some”. And in my university(UNSW), it is the lecturer’s decision whether to scale the results according to the bell curve or not.
June 18th, 2009 at 11:24 am
@monash student,
trust me dude, every uni in the world HAS bell curve system, believe me or not, just that it doesn’t apply to all courses due to the nature of the course.
July 15th, 2009 at 5:37 am
I’ve got a better idea. Let’s all fail SPM. How To Fail SPM right here: http://nadzrul.com/random/how-to-fail-your-spm