THERE ought to be some soul-searching on the part of the parents to find out why their children did not perform well in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2022, said a parent-teacher association (PTA).
In a report by English daily The Star, Pasir Gudang PTA chief Mahat Japar was reported as saying that there should be a “huge reflection on our actions”, adding that parental guidance played a crucial role in the effectiveness of home-based teaching and learning (PdPR), particularly in secondary schools.
“The PdPR was introduced as a way for our children to be able to continue learning safely at home during the pandemic,” he was quoted as saying.
According to Mahat, based on the SPM results released earlier this month “a large number of us had faced trouble adapting to the changes in the education system.”
Untuk Malaysia (For Malaysia), a group that promotes for quality education and a strong support system for Malaysians, discovered that 89,752 students – which is equivalent to 24% of the 373,974 applicants who took the SPM last year – had failed Mathematics.
Another 52,674 candidates (14%) failed English.
Mahat said the PdPR is more than just making sure that children have finished their homework and parents should ensure that they understand the tasks assigned to them.
“Giving children full access to the internet without supervision was also a factor that could have led to their poor performance.
“They might only focus on their studies for the first 10 minutes, then they might browse other stuff on the Internet. So again, parental guidance is needed,” Mahat said.
According to Mahat, there have also been incidents of students working for short periods of time before taking their exams.
“Some jobs, such as food delivery, offer immediate cash payments, which have encouraged some students to quit their studies and focus on earning money,” Mahat noted, adding that parents should discourage their children from chasing financial freedom at such an early age.
Meanwhile, National Parents, Community, and Private Sector chairman Datuk Yahya Jaafar indicated that a number of factors could have influenced the SPM results.
“We must first identify the causes before we can come up with a solution and the Education Ministry should be given time to study the matter.
“Let the investigations be completed first,” Yahya said, adding that he would very soon meet with ministry officials. – June 26, 2023
Main pic credit: Bernama
