Top marks for education, NEW STRAITS TIMES-MANAGEMENT TIMES.

(From Worldsources (English))

URL: http://www.emedia.com.my/

THE improved Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) results for 2003 highlight the better quality of students coming out of our schools. They show that, despite numerous problems and countless criticisms levelled against our educational system, it has managed to deliver what is expected of it.

However, the schools and education departments should endeavour to work even harder to further enhance their performance. We must remember that education is a continuous process. All Malaysians should share the joy of our high achievers who did their parents and the nation proud, with the number of those scoring straight As doubling to 6,358 from 3,359 the previous year. This is a wonderful achievement and the students deserve to be congratulated. Overall, there were also better results in four of the core subjects, namely Bahasa Melayu, English, Mathematics and Science.

This is encouraging, given the vital importance of Science and Mathematics in lifting Malaysia to developednation status and building a knowledge- based economy. However, the decline in Moral Education and History should be looked into. While creating ...