ALOR SETAR - Malaysia’s Education Ministry will look into why 14,858 first-time candidates were absent from the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2022 examination.

Noting that the absent candidates made up 3.8 per cent of the total of 388,832 candidates, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the ministry is looking into the right mechanism to resolve the issue.

SPM, or the Malaysian Certificate of Education, is a national exam taken by all Form 5 students in Malaysia. It is the equivalent of the GCE O-level exam in Singapore.

Ms Fadhlina said there could be several reasons that may have prompted the students to give the exam a miss.

“The ministry is looking into the factors so that we can identify (the reasons) and stage a necessary intervention to ensure better attendance in coming years,” she said.

Speaking to reporters in Jalan Kuala Kedah on Sunday, she said a trend compared with the previous year can be concluded only when the findings are ready.

“There are various categories of candidates, such as those from Education Ministry schools, private candidates and others. Hence, we need a proper breakdown to identify why this is happening,” she said.

Ms Fadhlina said more than 90 per cent of SPM candidates were eligible to obtain their certificates, adding that the rate is higher than in previous years.

She said there was no need to release the rankings for the best-performing schools for SPM 2022.

It was reported that the 14,858 first-time candidates did not turn up for at least six subjects.

According to the ministry’s analysis, the number of absent candidates in 2021 was 10,681, or 2.7 per cent of the 392,837 registered candidates. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK