Percentage of candidates who failed BM and Sejarah down compared to previous year

PUTRAJAYA: Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said the percentage of candidates who failed the Bahasa Malaysia (BM) and History subjects in the recent 2023 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations compared to 2022 had improved overall.

“The percentage of candidates who failed BM (in 2023) was 2.5%, while History was 5.6%.

“It shows a decrease of 0.1% for BM and 2% for History compared to last year,” he said after a Malaysian Skills Certificate convocation ceremony for students with special educational needs here on Tuesday (June 1).

He also said the average grades for both subjects had improved (lower is better). In 2022, the subject average grade for BM was 3.95 compared to 3.86 in 2023.

“The GPMP for History also showed an increase, with a score of 4.63 (in 2023), compared to 4.65 in 2022. We have achieved an improvement in terms of performance even though it is thin,” he said.

He was responding to a question regarding a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) claiming that over 23,000 students had failed the History and BM SPM exams.

“The Education Ministry values all feedback on the performance of SPM results and is committed to providing comprehensive support materials for all subjects on our dedicated platform, the Digital Educational Learning Initiative Malaysia (Delima).

“At the same time, teachers also have access to and know about the new support materials that will be developed from time to time,” he said.

A total of 395,870 candidates sat for the national examination last year.