I refer to the Ministry of Education’s press release on 29 October “Major ethnic groups performed better at GCE “A” Level exam”.
It states that “The performance of the major ethnic groups in the PSLE and GCE “O” level have remained stable in the past 10 years. At the GCE ‘A’ Level, the overall percentage of students with at least three ‘A’/’H2’ Passes and pass in General Paper or Knowledge and Inquiry improved from 85% in 2002 to 91% in 2011. The statistics released by the Ministry of Education serves helps to inform the communities on how their children fared in the national examinations over the past 10 years”.
Percentage of Students Who Passed PSLE
The worse performing ethnic group was Malays at 92.3% in 2011, and the best was Chinese at 98.9%.
In 2002, the figures were 90.5 and 98.2%, respectively.
The following are the statistics for the worse and best performing ethnic groups for various categories. (Note The “Others” ethnic group has been excluded in this tabulation)
Percentage of PSLE Students Who Scored A*-C
in Standard English Language
Malays 94.9%, Chinese 98.2%
2002 – Malays 95.1%, Indians 98.7%
Percentage of PSLE Students Who Scored A* – C
in Standard Mother Tongue Language
Chinese 97.5%, Malays 97.9%
2002 – Indians 97.0%, Malays 99.7%
So, Malays are better than the other ethnic groups for the Mother Tonque.
Percentage of PSLE Students Who Scored A* – C
in Standard Mathematics
Malays 60.1%, Chinese 89.4%
2002 – Malays 56.5%, Chinese 90.2%
So, the performance of Malays in Mathematics has been relatively weak, compared to the other ethnic groups.
Percentage of PSLE Students Who Scored A* – C
in Standard Science
Malays 73.8%, Chinese 94.3%
2002 – Malays 77.5%, Chinese 95.0%
So, the performance of Malays in Science has dropped relatively more, compared to the other ethnic groups.
Percentage of GCE ‘O’ Level Students with
At Least 3 ‘O’ Level Passes
Malays 88.1%, Chinese 96.8%
2002 – Malays 84.9%, Chinese 96.2%
So, the Malays have improved relatively more, compared to the other ethnic groups.
Percentage of GCE ‘O’ Level Students with
At Least 5 ‘O’ Level Passes
Malays 62.3%, Chinese 85.6%
2002 – Malays 58.0%, Chinese 84.6%
So, the Malays have improved relatively more, compared to the other ethnic groups. But, they may still be quite far behind the other ethnic groups.
Percentage of GCE ‘O’ Level Students Who
Passed English Language
Malays 82.6%, Indians 91.1%
2002 – Malays 72.7%, Indians 86.1%
So, Indians are the best performing group for English.
Percentage of GCE ‘O’ Level Students Who
Passed Mother Tongue Language
Indians 96.5%, Malays 99.0%
2002 – Chinese 96.2%, Indians 99.7%
Percentage of GCE ‘O’ Level Students Who
Passed Mathematics
Malays 71.2%, Chinese 92.8%
2002 – Malays 66.9%, Chinese 92.2%
So, Malays are relatively weak in Mathematics.
Percentage of P1 Cohort Admitted to
Post-Secondary Institutions
Malays 87.7%, Chinese 96.1%
2002 – Malays 76.2%, Chinese 91.4%
So, the Malays have made remendous improvement in terms of those being admitted to Post-Secondary Institutions, from the P1 (Primary1) Cohort.
Looking at the above statistics, I think we may need to do more to help Malay students, particularly at the PSLE level in Mathematics and Science, and for the Percentage of GCE ‘O’ Level Students with At Least 5 ‘O’ Level Passes and Mathematics.
Since the footnotes say that “The percentages are based on school candidates who sat for the respective examinations”, would the statistics be significantly different, if we account for those who perform poorly in Primary 1 who may decide not to take the ‘O’ level examinations?
Also, since post-secondary institutions are defined as “Junior colleges, Centralised Institute, Polytechnics, ITE, LASALLE College of the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) and other private education institutions”, what are the statistics for the P1 Cohort that make it to the universities?
In this connection, I understand that the latest statistics are that only 6.8% of Malay-Muslims had a university degree in 2010, compared to 28.3% across all races. (“Is Mendaki TTFS fully funded by Govt?“, July 31 and “‘Graduates in every family’ call“, Straits Times, July 1)
Leong Sze Hian
