Jame and other invited guests and teachers in a group photo with all the top performing students.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s performance in the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) this year was the best achieved by the state in the last five years.
“This year, a total of 1,231 candidates attained all A’s as compared to only 1,197 candidates last year. This shows an increase of 34 candidates attaining straight A’s,” said Sabah education director Datuk Jame Alip when announcing the state’s performance in the 2014 UPSR examination at SK Sri Gaya near here yesterday.
Out of the 1,231 candidates, a total of 1,091 from Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) type schools attained 5A’s while 140 from Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) managed to get 7A’s.
Altogether, a total of 44,427 candidates sat for the examination which took place between September 9 and 11 as compared to 45,491 candidates last year.
Jame said out of the 44,427 candidates from Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) and Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) who sat for the examination this year, a total of 22,699 or 51.09 per cent managed to attain at least a ‘C’ for all the subjects they registered for.
This achievement signified an increase of about 2.43 per cent as compared to 22,136 candidates (48.66 per cent) managing to achieve the same feat last year.
Jame described the achievement as a sweet surprise for the Sabah Education Department, stating that this was the highest achievement the state has managed to acquire within the last five years.
The state also showed improved performance in its ‘State Average Grade’ with 2.71 this year as compared with 2.76 last year.
The State Average Grade was also the best grade the state has attained in the last five years.
There were also lesser number of candidates who did poorly in all the subjects during the examination (attaining grades ‘D’ and ‘E’).
The percentage of candidates who failed all subjects in the examination this year was merely 1.23 per cent compared to 7.81 per cent last year.
Jame also mentioned that the performance of candidates at SK-type schools in the Mathematics and Science subjects was deteriorating. The performance of the candidates in the Mathematics subject went down from 70.83 per cent last year to 70.46 per cent this year. Their performance in the Science subject also reduced from 72.91 percentage passes in 2013 to 72.06 percentage passes in 2014.
However, the candidates from the SK-type schools in Sabah fared better in Bahasa Melayu (Comprehension), Bahasa Melayu (Composition) and English examinations this year as compared to last year.
Candidates from SJKC-type schools in Sabah meanwhile showed an improved percentage performance in English and the Chinese language (Comprehension) but a decrease percentage performance in Bahasa Melayu, Mathematics and Science.
Jame also commented that the incidences of leaked Science, English, Mathematics and Bahasa Tamil papers had resulted in candidates having to re-sit for their examination on Sept 11 and 30.
He added that the case had impacted dearly on the students involved.
The top 10 performing schools in the examination for the SK-type schools category in Sabah were SK Bombalai Tawau, SK Sri Gaya, SK St Monica Sandakan, SK St Francis Convent, SK St Joseph Penampang, SK Mutiara, SK Pasir Putih Tawau, SK Holy Trinity Tawau and SK Bahagia Tawau.
The top 10 SJKC-type schools in this year’s UPSR examination were SJKC Shan Tao, SJKC St James, SKJC Chung Hwa Likas, SJKC Chung Hwa Kampung Air, SJKC Yue Min, SJKC Lok Yuk Likas, SJKC Sin Hwa Tawau, SJKC Tai Tong Sandakan and SJKC Anglo Chinese.
Meanwhile, the best top 15 SKM (Sekolah Kurang Murid) schools in Sabah were SK Bundu Tuhan Ranau, SK Koporingan Tuaran, SK Tambulaong Tuaran, SK Tilis Tenom, SK Perancangan Ranau, SK Kayangat Tuaran, SK Lingga Baru Tuaran, SK Guakon Baru Tuaran, SK Chinta Mata Tenom, SK Kauluan Ranau, SK Togop Tuaran, SK Pegalan Kosob Tambunan, SK Rungus Nahaba Tuaran, SK Longut Ranau and SK Tudan Tuaran.