Putrajaya, Dec 19 – A total of 30,988 or 7.33 per cent of the 462,940 candidates who sat for the 2013 Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examination scored grade A in all subjects, compared with 30,474 last year.
Education Director-General Datuk Dr Khair Mohamad Yusof said it showed an increase of 0.41 per cent or 514 candidates from 2012.
He said the overall performance for English, Mathematics, Science and Islamic Education showed an improvement based on Subject Grade Point Average (GPMP).
“However, the GPMP for Malay Language showed a slight drop of 0.03 point to 2.35 point, from 2.32 last year,” he told a media conference to announce the 2013 PMR results here Thursday.
Khair said the number of candidates who obtained grade E in all subjects increased to 307 (0.07 per cent) this year, from 241 candidates (0.05 per cent) last year.
The results also showed the urban and rural candidates performing almost equally well with an average grade point of 2.56 and 2.81, respectively, he added.
For candidates with special needs, he said, 11 of them scored grade A in all subjects out of the total 2,300 students who sat for the examination this year.
“The number of candidates with special needs who did not pass the minimum competency level in all subjects increased by 27 per cent (0.86 per cent), from 22 candidates (1.27 per cent) in 2012 to 49 candidates (2.13 per cent) this year,” he added.
In a related development, Khair said that from next year, PMR would not be held as public examinations, but as school-based assessments where students would be assessed based on their sports and co-curricular activities and psychometric assessment.
In KUALA LUMPUR, Federal Territory Education Director Abdullah Mad Yunus said 1,683 of the 19,440 candidates obtained A in all subjects they sat for.
He said the GPMP for 10 of the 14 subjects in the Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory was higher than the average grade at the national level.
Four schools scored 100 per cent passes and they are Sekolah Menengah Sains Selangor, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Kuala Lumpur, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Aminuddin Baki and Sekolah Menengah Agama Majlis Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan.
Two candidates with special needs obtained grade A in all the subjects they sat for, he added.
In ALOR SETAR, the number of candidates in Kedah who scored A in all subjects they sat for increased to 6.8 per cent, from 5.94 per cent in 2012.
Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Tun Dr Mahathir said the number of candidates who scored A in all subjects increased by 0.14 per cent, from 2,083 in 2012 to 2,264 this year.
“The overall achievement showed an increase of 2.52 per cent from 64.29 per cent last year to 66.78 per cent this year. The average grade increased by 0.08 point, from 2.81 in 2012 to 2.73 this year,” he said after the announcement of the PMR results for Kedah at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sultanah Bahiyah.
He said 13 schools obtained 100 per cent passes in PMR this year.
In MELAKA, State Education Director Kasim Mohamad said 1,011 of the 13,661 candidates in the state obtained A in all subjects, an increase of 0.56 per cent from 982 candidates last year.
He said the State Average Grade (GPN) was the best in 10 years and that six schools in Melaka obtained 100 per cent passes from only three last year.
– Bernama
