A total of 30,863 students out of 439,456 candidates scored "A" in all subjects in 2010 PMR examination, making it the best result in the last four years.
Education director-general Datuk Abdul Ghafar Mahmud said this year's exam saw an increase in straight A scorers to 7.02% from 6.37% last year, with the number increasing by 2,675 from 28,188 in 2009.
"This year, the overall achievement in 16 subjects, judging from the all "A's" scorers, minimum D passes and national average grade (GPN), is the best compared to the last four years," he said.
"The number of students with all "E's" also dropped from 397 last year to 386 this year.
"As a whole, the achievement of candidates increased, based on the GPN level to 2.74 this year from 2.78 last year (the lower the GPN the better)," he told a press conference at the ministry here today.
Abdul Ghafar said the gap between candidates in urban and rural areas has also narrowed. The percentage of all "A’s" in rural areas rose by 0.72% while that in the urban areas increased by 0.55%.
"Some 5,825 rural candidates got "A" in all subjects this year compared to 4,775 in 2009 while students who passed the minimum level increased from 87,936 to 93,101," he added.
Abdul Ghafar said of the 1,345 special students who sat for the examination, five (0.37%) got "A" in all subjects.
However, the number of all "A’s" and minimum passes for these students dropped slightly in terms of the GPN value to 4.19 this year from 4.17 last year.
The performance in most subjects this year remained stable with significant increase in the subject average grade for Bahasa Melayu, English language, Arabic language, Mathematics, Science and Kemahiran Hidup Pertanian.
This is the second year Pendidikan Kesenian was included as a subject in the PMR, with it being taught in Sekolah Seni Johor Baru and Sekolah Seni Kuching.
Abdul Ghafar said excellent performance was shown in all four fields under the subject – Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts – with Dance recording the highest achievement.
"Their performance was very good and their talent can be polished further in Form Four before they sit for the SPM examination which has six specific fields under the subject.
"They are Seni Halus, Komunikasi Visual, Rekabentuk, Seni Muzik, Seni Tari and Seni Teater. Hopefully, we could produce more knowledgeable artistes and artistic scholars," he added.
