National CGPA for 2017 has improved, says council

STPM Results stories by STEPHANIE LEE , SANDHYA MENON, LO TERN CHERN, REBECCA RAJAENDRAM and LEE CHONGHUI

PUTRAJAYA: The national Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) for the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) 2017 examinations rose to 2.76 from 2.71 in 2016.

Malaysian Examinations Council chairman Prof Datuk Seri Dr Moha­med Mustafa Ishak said there was also a rise in the number of candidates passing all subjects.

“Overall, the national CGPA continues to rise since the modular system was introduced in 2013,” he said yesterday.

“Not only did the percentage of those passing all four or five subjects record an increase, the number of candidates scoring 3.50 and above also went up from 6,137 (14.2%) in 2016 to 6,408 (14.89%) in 2017,”

“The same goes for those scoring 2.75 and above, and 2.50 and above.”

Prof Mohamed Mustafa however said there was a “slight drop” in the percentage of candidates scoring a perfect 4.0.

“There is a drop from 1.31%, or 565 candidates, for STPM 2016 to 1.13%, or 485 candidates, last year,” he said.

Prof Mohamed Mustafa, who is also Universiti Utara Malaysia vice-chancellor, said the gap between the CGPAs of urban and rural candidates has narrowed.

The difference between the two groups is 0.06 points, from 0.09 in 2016 to 0.03 last year.

“Urban candidates obtained a CGPA of 2.78 while rural candidates obtained 2.75,” he said.

He added that 25,923 candidates or 60.23% were from urban areas while 17,119 candidates or 39.77% were from rural areas.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid congratulated the STPM 2017 top scorers and schools.

“STPM is the best track for students wanting to pursue their tertiary education,” he said.

Mahdzir also said they had worked hard to improve the facilities for Form Six students in colleges and schools.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak also congratulated the top students in a Twitter post.

A total of 43,042 candidates sat for the STPM last year.