KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — The National Average Grade (GPN) of 4.80 recorded for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2020 results is the country’s best in five years, said Senior Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin.
He said the GPN was 4.86 in 2019, 4.89 in 2018, 4.90 in 2017 and 5.05 in 2016.
“These data show that candidates’ performance is better in 2020 compared with 2019. A smaller GPN value indicates better candidate achievement. This analysis is based on first-time SPM candidates who registered for a minimum of six subjects and sat for at least one subject.
“The trend of the GPN from 2016 to 2020 shows that (the achievement for) 2020 is the best in five years,” he said when announcing the analysis of the SPM 2020 results virtually today.
In terms of the achievement gap by location, he said the achievement gap between urban and rural candidates has narrowed to 0.38 in 2020 from 0.44 in 2019.
Radzi said the achievement of students in urban and rural areas in 2020 had improved compared with 2019.
He said the achievement of urban students in 2020 was at 4.68 compared with 4.70 in 2019, while the achievement of rural candidates was at 5.06 in 2020 compared with 5.14 in 2019.
He also said that the results of the SPM 2020 showed that the performance of 43 out of 83 subjects had recorded an improved performance, 39 subjects recorded a decline while one subject remained the same.
“The performance of five core subjects – Mathematics, Science, History, Islamic Studies and Moral Education – has improved in 2020, while Bahasa Melayu and English subjects recorded a decline,” he said.
In the meantime, he said the percentage of candidates eligible to be awarded the SPM certificate also increased by 1.96 per cent, at 88.68 per cent, from 86.72 per cent in 2019.
