Kuala Lumpur: The Ministry of Education (MOE) is offering 300 new scholarships to outstanding 2024 Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) students to pursue studies in education at local public universities. Minister Fadhlina Sidek highlighted that this initiative is part of the ministry’s efforts to attract STPM leavers to the teaching profession and to strengthen their academic pathway to university level.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Fadhlina stressed the ministry’s focus on supporting promising talents who have achieved good STPM results and wish to pursue studies in the field of education. She was speaking at the 2024 STPM, Malaysian University English Test, and Malay Language Proficiency Certificate for Foreign Nationals Outstanding Student Award Ceremony organised by the Malaysian Examinations Council (MEC) today.
Fadhlina mentioned that the initiative aligns with efforts to strengthen the national education system by ensuring that only truly committed and passionate individuals form the backbone of the education sector. She explained that STPM graduates will now have the opportunity to enrol in the Bachelor of Education programme at Institutes of Teacher Education (IPG), a programme previously offered only to Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) leavers.
The minister also stated that the MOE is committed to ensuring that Form Six remains a top choice for post-SPM students, opening up wider opportunities for them. In addition to students, Form Six teachers will benefit through courses and training delivered as part of a corporate social responsibility initiative, in collaboration with the School Management Division and MEC, aimed at improving the quality of teaching and learning.
Fadhlina expressed support for MEC’s initiative to introduce a ‘patching’ system for candidates wishing to improve their STPM results within the same year. She noted that this approach would allow students to retake and improve their results in the same academic year, providing them an advantage when applying for university entry in the current intake cycle.
Furthermore, Fadhlina emphasised that the STPM is internationally recognised, on par with the GCE Advanced Level by Cambridge University Press and Assessment, thereby opening up broader opportunities for students to pursue studies abroad. At the ceremony, MEC chairman Prof Datuk Dr Md Amin Md Taff announced that the 2024 STPM results recorded a national Cumulative Grade Point Average of 2.85, a 0.01-point increase from the previous year.