SPM Tamil enrollment declining


A DAILY has raised alarm over the falling number of students taking Tamil subjects in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations in the last nine years.

Malaysia Nanban reported that in 2016, the Tamil Language and Tamil Literature subjects had 9,142 and 2,967 students sitting for the subjects in SPM respectively.

In 2025, the figures stood at 7,422 and 2,253 respectively.

While there were some upward fluctuations in between, the trend is seen as negative overall.

The percentage of those scoring A+, A or A- in the Tamil Language has been on a downward trend overall from 32.2% in 2016 to 29.6% in 2024, although 2025 bucked the trend with 34.7%.

The Literature subject has seen the same trend. These must be taken as a warning to ensure Tamil subjects are not dropped and forgotten, the daily urged.

(The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.)

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