To: [email protected] From: [email protected] Hi Aisyah, How are you? I hope you are in good health. Did you know that some of our schoolmates don’t want to pursue studies? Not only them but this is what is happening in our country now. According to Utusan Malaysia, a report by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) in 2019 showed that 390,000 out of 560,000 SPM candidates were interested in finding a job immediately after the exam while only 170,000 students were interested in pursuing their studies. Based on recent statistics from the eProfile Kerjaya Murid (ePKM) system, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek announced that almost half of SPM students from the 2021 session chose not to further studies. The number of students entering the workforce instead of pursuing further education has increased in recent years from 20.02% in 2018 to 30.8% in 2021.
The Malay Daily reported that there are three main factors why those SPM leavers did not want to continue their studies. The first main factor was the availability of job opportunities in the gig economy. Recently, Malaysia eHailing Alliances chief Jose Rizal said the government’s proposal to lower the age limit for p-hailing riders from 21 to 18 would lower the entry barrier for SPM leavers. It has also made these easily accessible to individuals without the requirement of advanced or extensive training. Some parents have acknowledged this by allowing their school-leaving children to do a part-time job before enrolling in higher education as options for children to decide on their next pathway. This is one of the reasons why SPM leavers who are not interested in continuing their studies would choose ehailing because they can earn some money without the need to complete their studies. Secondly, SPM leavers were interested in becoming influencers on social media. According to the study by UCSI University Poll Research Centre, showed that only 51 percent out of 1,000 SPM leavers planned to continue studying 39 percent look for a job while another 10 percent had no plans. Moreover, about 34 percent of them wanted to become influencers and social media affiliates. Deputy Dean (Graduate Studies, Industry, and Community Relations), Human Ecology Faculty, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Assoc Prof Dr. Zainal Madon said the younger generation is attracted to the “glitter and glamour” world of celebrity influencers, who can easily earn attractive income for their social media postings. Without a doubt, the glamorous lifestyle portrayed by influencers through their social media accounts has motivated SPM school leavers to be like them.
Lastly, they believe that furthering their studies does not guarantee better jobs. For some students, continuing their studies is not something to look forward to as they feel that good academic results do not guarantee them highpaying jobs. That’s why many SPM school leavers are no longer interested in furthering their university education. Therefore, teachers play a huge role in giving advice about the benefits of pursuing their studies to the students in high school. Teachers also need to help them with their studies in order to get flying colors in SPM results. Thats all from me. Thankyou and bye ! Sincerely, Syuhada
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The abolishment of UPSR In April 2021, the Ministry of Education, Datuk Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin announced that the Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) will be abolished. As we know this national examination was taken by all students enrolled in national schools at the end of Standard 6 for more than three decades. UPSR was introduced in 1988 to replace the Standard Five Assessment. About millions of students have sat this national examination and is important to determine which direction the students to enter secondary schools. Usually, the UPSR results are used to seek admission into selected schools such as boarding schools or Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM), which produce outstanding students in the academic field. Pictures below showed some of the selected schools that only took those students with excellent UPSR results.
According to Astro Awani, students who score straight As in UPSR results usually will receive widespread praise while lowperforming students will feel neglected and give a big compared to them. This situation has been happening for a long time and unfortunately, has an impact on the underachieving students especially in terms of personal development. They might be afraid to try new things and always consider themselves “unsuccessful individuals” . So, this issue has been made for over 10 years to reduce the burden on students who are too young to be separated in terms of potential through their achievements in the examination. Therefore, it's been a longawaited announcement on the abolition of UPSR and hope would be a change in the national education systems towards student assessment.
According to Anuar Ahmad, a senior lecturer at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's Centre for Education and Community Wellbeing Studies, Faculty of Education, the situation has proven that we can no longer implement this outdated form of examination. "It is not appropriate to categorize the pupils according to their abilities. With this abolition, it willopen up opportunities for the national education to focus on the development of talents and potentials, rather than academic performance at such an early age, " Anuar said. In fact, many will agree that schoolgoing children from the age of seven to 12 should not be burdened with examinations. It is because their new cognitive development just begins with their emotions and behaviors through themselves. Therefore, teachers should search for another effective method of education to make sure all the children can succeed and excellent in their studies even without UPSR examination. Despite that, there are also several individuals who strongly disagree withthe motion ‘UPSR should be abolished’ . According to Mohd. Amaluddin, UPSR is easy to control, especially in terms of marking the paper and giving the marks. Secondly, without UPSR, students are most likely not to care about their studies. It would be such a waste for them to have knowledge in education but not know how and when to use and practice the information they have gained in school. Lastly, UPSR can create competitiveness and challenges for students to obtain good grades for recognition and enhanced results. According to Lyn Kendall, Gifted Child Consultant for British Mensa, competition is good for children. Healthy competition inspires the students to do their best.