KUALA LUMPUR: The gap between urban and rural schools is shrinking, says Education minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, based on this year’s Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) results announced today.
Mahdzir said that the increasingly small gap should be regarded as an achievement for the country.
"The Average National Grade (GPN) for this year decreased to 2.27 from 2.29 last year, which shows an improvement.
"While the Urban Grade Average for this year remains the same as last year at 2.21, the Rural Grade Average improved from 2.38 to 2.34.
"The GPN operates on a decreasing scale where a lower number indicates better achievements ," he said during a visit to Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Damansara here today.
Sekolah Kebangsaan Bukit Damansara came out on top, ranking as the number one school in Kuala Lumpur based on UPSR results with 81 out of 178 candidates (47.1 percent) achieving straight As.
Mahdzir expressed his satisfaction
at this year's UPSR results, with an increased percentage of students achieving straight As.
"I hope that with joint efforts from the ministry, state education departments, district education departments, teachers and parents, UPSR results in the future will continue to show improvement,"
Education director-general Datuk Dr Khair Mohd Yusof this morning announced that UPSR results saw a 0.76 per cent increase of students obtaining straight As compared to last year, numbering at 38,344 out of 455,929 candidates.