The list of Top 10 students and Top 10 schools in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2009 is a slap-in-the-face to Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for his list of High-Performance Schools (HPS) announced at the end of January.
The two SPM 2009 lists have validated the criticisms leveled against Muhyiddin’s HPS list, that it is an insult not only to students and teachers from Sarawak and Sabah but also to their counterparts in Peninsular Malaysia when none of their schools was selected.
Congratulations to Gladys Tan Yee Kim of SMK Green Road, Kuching, the top SPM student in the country in SPM 2009 scoring 10A+s as well as the other nine SPM top scorers.
Gladys Tan has vindicated the honour and quest for excellence of Sarawakians by topping the national list.
However, out of the Top 10 SPM students, only two were from Muhyiddin’s list of HPS, namely second top scorer Grace Kiew Sze-Ern from SMK(P) Sri Aman, Petaling Jaya and fifth top scorer Syamilah Mahali from Kolej Tunku Kurshiah, Seremban. Eight of the Top SPM students are not from any of Muhyiddin’s list of HPS, viz:
| Rank | Name | School |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gladys Tan Yee Kim | SMK Green Road, Kuching |
| 2 | Grace Kiew Sze-Ern | SMK (P) Sri Aman, Petaling Jaya (HPS) |
| 3 | Khadijah Ahmad Jais | SM Agama Persekutuan, Labu |
| 4 | Akmal Hidayat Sabri | SMK Derma, Kangar |
| 5 | Syamilah Mahali | Kolej Tunku Kurshiah, Seremban (HPS) |
| 6 | Amelia Lee Wei Ling | SMK Taman Melawati,Gombak |
| 7 | Nur Syahadan Muhamad | SMK Sains Tengku Muhd Faris Petra, KB |
| 8 | Lai Yin Kwin | SMK Tinggi Melaka, Malacca |
| 9 | Corinne Gunn Huey Min | SMK Taman Melawati, Gombak |
| 10 | Hu May Khei | SMK Convent, Taiping |
There should be some correlation between the list of Top SPM students with the HPS list and when they are completely out-of-sync as in this case, questions must be asked about the professionalism and usefulness of Muhyiddin’s HPS list.
Questions must not only be asked as to the exclusion of the schools which have produced the first, third, fourth and fifth top student in the Top 10 SPM 2009 scorer from the HPS list, but also why SMK Taman Melawati, Gombak which produced two students (sixth and ninth) among Top 10 SPM students is also not on the HPS list.
The list of the Top 10 Schools in the SPM 2009 is another put-down for Muhyiddin’s HPS list.
Only three of the Top 10 Schools in SPM 2009 are in the HPS list, viz:
| School | HPS ranking |
|---|---|
| Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah, Klang | 2 |
| Sekolah Tun Fatimah, Johore Bahru | 4 |
| Kolej Tunku Kurshiah, Seremban | 10 |
The other seven schools ranking from No. 1 to No. 9 in the Top 10 Schools in SPM 2009 are not in the HPS list, viz:
| School | HPS ranking |
|---|---|
| SM Sains Seremban | 1 |
| Sekolah BPI Gombak | 3 |
| SM Sains Alam Shah | 5 |
| SBPI Rawang | 6 |
| SM Sain Muar | 7 |
| SBPI Temerloh | 8 |
| SMK Infant Jesus Convent, JB | 9 |
Muhyiddin should direct his officials in the Education Ministry to get back to the drawing board to issue a supplementary list of the High Performance Schools to do justice to all good schools, taking into account the SPM 2009 results. May be the HPS list should be formulated and selected by a committee of former teachers and educationists instead of bureaucrats in the Education Ministry.
For the Top 10 SPM students, the Cabinet should reward them by announcing that they will all be granted full scholarships for pre-university and university education, whether locally or abroad, to demonstrate the government’s new appreciation for talent in Najib’s 1Malaysia, with none of them snatched away to study overseas, particularly in Singapore.