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SPM results are out and now there is mad dash to apply to university or pre-university courses for those interested to pursue tertiary education. SPM leavers are not short of options to choose from such as Form 6, Matriculation, Diploma, A-levels and others.
Among these choices, continuing to Form 6 is sometimes considered the unpopular choice due to certain perceptions that people hold. It was reported that the number of students continuing to Form 6 dropped to 43,235 last year from 51,697 in 2012.
 Pic: New Straits Times
With plenty of pre-university options to choose from, is Form 6, in turn STPM, still a relevant route to pursue? MD spoke to several former Form 6 students as well as an education expert to delve deeper into the benefits of this often misunderstood academic option.
“It Was Also A Way For Me To Prove That I Could Do It,” Practicing Lawyer Recalls Her Form 6 Experience As parents play a big role in influencing students in their academic endeavours, Nurul Najwa, currently a practicing lawyer, was lucky to have a father who was well-informed in the advantages of taking Form 6.
“I honestly took Form 6 because I was not satisfied with my SPM results and my father, who was a teacher, also encouraged me to take up Form 6 as he said that it was a good platform for going to university because we only focus on subjects that are pertinent for the course that we want to pursue.
Nurul Najwa
“It was also a way for me to prove that I could do it; that although my results were not as good, I was still able to succeed,” she said.
Sharing on what was the best thing about going to Form 6, Najwa said that being given more attention by the teachers and the more relax rules as well as being given plenty of opportunities to hone leadership and management skills through societies and organising events stood out for her.
It was also a breeze once she was done with Form 6 and wanted to continue to tertiary education, granted that she managed to receive good results courtesy of her hard work.
“It was easy for me to get the course I wanted in university because I focussed on the subjects needed to read Law at university. “However, I did not do this alone as teachers discussed with students earlier on during orientation on what we want to pursue and they will guide us so that we will achieve what we want.
“For me it was really worthwhile to enter Form 6; I really studied for STPM and when I got really good results I felt that it was worth it. Getting into my first choice, which was reading Law at International Islamic University (UIA), was icing on the cake,” she said.
Najwa also shared her two cents about those who still think that Form 6 is lower than other pre-university options before we ended our interview.
“For those who still hold on to the perception that Form 6 is of lower standard, you have to bear in mind that plenty of students prefer to pursue it either for Science or Arts stream and they could go anywhere after that.
“You basically learn the same things as those who go to other pre-university institutions but you can get the same education at a much lower cost “With the new system, the syllabus is not that heavy and you still have assignments like you would get in matriculation centres.
“And with an STPM certificate, you can directly pursue a Bachelor’s degree without having to go through years of studying, if you go through the diploma route.
“You would also be able to go into the workforce and request for an STPM-level salary. You would not be able to do so if you have a matriculation certificate,” she said.
Guidance Counsellor And Former Form Student Says Current STPM Format Is Easier To Score
Nurul, a guidance counsellor at a government secondary school, agreed that Form 6 is an important medium for students to continue their studies and explore their strengths as it offers a wider selection of specialisation that students can choose from before entering university.
“I myself was a Form 6 student and I chose this avenue as a second chance for me to pursue tertiary education since my SPM results weren’t satisfactory enough.
“I was a Science stream student but in Form 6 I changed to Arts stream, and it opened up more opportunities for me to study in university,” shared the guidance counsellor, who was accepted to attend Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Ismail (UPSI) which was her first choice after getting her STPM results.
Nurul also said that an end should be put on the notion that STPM is difficult as she found that STPM was easier only if the students were willing to put their energy into getting good results.
“I felt it was easier to study in Form 6, which might be due to the study technique used, and I don’t think it would be the same if I didn’t join a study group where I got a lot of support from my friends.
“If you work hard and not play around then you would be able to get great results.
“When students come and ask me about Form 6, I tell them that it is easier to score now than using the previous module because of the by semester system, the same that universities use instead of one big exam at the end of the term,” she said, adding that the smaller classes also allow teachers to give more attention to each student.
The modular system currently used also helps student to anticipate the system used in universities so that they would be able to adjust quickly.
And the biggest perk to continue to Form 6 is the vested interest that teachers have in seeing their students succeed in entering university.
Source - MD
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Post time 28-3-2017 09:44 AM
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