TAWAU: Students who did not do well in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) can take on skills and vocational training.
Deputy Education Minister II Datuk Mohamad Alamin said various institutions offered such opportunities.
"There are many opportunities out there. If you did not do well in SPM, it does not mean you have no more opportunities to further your studies.
"Those who do not perform well academically may have great skills.
"Continuous and integrated efforts have been carried out by the Education Ministry and with other ministries, as well as agencies such as Giat Mara, Technical and Vocational Education Programme and others that offer suitable courses."
He said this after officiating the Tawau district Teachers Day celebration here today.
Mohamad was responding to reports that 75,455 SPM candidates were not eligible for certificates. The figure includes those who did not sit the SPM or failed it.
He said the National Education Policy did not focus only on examinations, but also aimed to produce human capital and create students who are skilled in various fields, innovative, creative and have excellent communication skills.
"We are confident in the Secondary School Standard Curriculum (KSSM) we use today. Although it was first introduced in the SPM last year, the percentage of candidates eligible for certificates is quite high, at 88.08 per cent nationwide.
"The achievement gap between urban and rural schools is also getting smaller, with students able to adapt to the syllabus and approach taken by the ministry through the KSSM, allowing them to get excellent results."
A total of 24,941 candidates (6.2 per cent) did not sit the 2021 SPM. A total of 407,097 candidates were registered for the examination, involving 3,382 examination centres.
A total of 1,655 candidates (0.43 per cent) had failed all subjects and 45,514 candidates (11.91 per cent) were not eligible for a certificate as they did not pass the Bahasa Melayu and History exams.