LETTERS: Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) is a gatekeeper for dreams and ambitions for many of us.
However, despite its pivotal role in our lives, it has yet to adapt to the 21st century.
For example, SPM Ulangan is held for only three papers although students might need to improve their grades in other subjects too.
Why can't we transform SPM Ulangan to be SPM September and allow students to sit more subjects, including Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Additional Maths, Accounts and Economics?
Students who want to attend courses in Malaysia are told to achieve certain grades. They have to wait one year and resit a new SPM exam.
Their lives are wasted because of the inflexibility of SPM.
Wealthy students who take IGSCE can take two exams in a year. SPM students do not have that option.
As the Malaysian Examinations Syndicate has shown recently, it is capable of testing multiple sets of SPM questions per year due to students being affected by Covid-19 or floods.
It has also shown that it can grade SPM papers within a month. So why can't it repeat this by testing more subjects in SPM September?
With the existence of patching for SPM certificate now, SPM September's grades could be used for admissions.
If students can receive their grades by October, they could apply for admissions in January.
In this way, they would have lost only three or four months of their lives compared with their batch mates, instead of wasting away one year and eventually dropping out from enrolling in a college or pursuing their dreams.
MD NAZ
Penang
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times