KPM pertahan kaedah gred SPM meskipun skor Pisa merosot

Malaysia's performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) has been declining, despite the Malaysian Ministry of Education (KPM) maintaining the grade for the Malaysian Education Certificate (SPM) examination. The KPM rejects allegations that grading through a benchmarking method conceals the decline in students' mastery.

Wong Kah Woh, Deputy Minister of Education, stated that the standard-setting method is a robust and professional assessment procedure, used by central examination bodies worldwide, including the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, and Singapore. Wong emphasized that the claim that SPM grading causes student mastery decline is inaccurate and that standard-setting aims to ensure fair, reliable, and comparable results among student cohorts.

Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) questioned whether the SPM grade boundaries adjudication under the Official Secrets Act 1972 could make a cohort's qualification appear stable while students' real mastery of the subject continues to decline. Wee urged the ministry to stop norm-based grading and use criterion-based ranking systems, like in the Cambridge IGCSE and O-Level examinations, which set fixed cut-off scores for each grade regardless of the overall cohort's performance.

Wong acknowledged that Pisa data shows Malaysian students' struggles in applying mathematical concepts and making inferences in novel situations. Additionally, he highlighted the mismatch between teachers' and taught subject options and the decline in parental academic support at home. Pisa data reveals that the percentage of students discussing school with parents at least once a week dropped from 46% in 2022 to 34% in 2025.

The ministry will publish a detailed analysis of the Pisa results by state and school category if the data reliability level permits. Wong admitted that the ministry failed to achieve the 2013-2025 Malaysian Education Development Plan (PPPM) target of placing the country within the top three in international assessments. However, he confirmed that the global ranking achievement remains one of twelve mandatory targets in the new plan for 2026-2035.

Earlier, Wee noted that Malaysia's 2025 Pisa average score was 409 points, while the Math score decreased by 11 points from 2022 to the lowest recorded level of 397 points. He added that despite Malaysian students scoring above the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average in curiosity, perseverance, and appreciation for school, the declining score reflects fundamental institutional failures rather than students' lack of interest.