MOE Offers 300 Scholarships To STPM High Achievers For Education Programmes

KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Education (MOE) is offering 300 new scholarships to outstanding 2024 Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) students to pursue studies in education at local public universities.

Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the initiative is part of the ministry’s efforts to attract STPM leavers to join the teaching profession and to strengthen their academic pathway to university level.

“This is what we are focusing on — to continue supporting promising talents who have achieved good STPM results and wish to pursue studies in the field of education,” she said.

She was speaking at the 2024 STPM, Malaysian University English Test and Malay Language Proficiency Certificate for Foreign Nationals Outstanding Student Award Ceremony organised by the Malaysian Examinations Council (MEC) here today.

Fadhlina said the initiative aligns with efforts to strengthen the national education system by ensuring that only truly committed and passionate individuals form the backbone of the education sector.

She said STPM graduates will now also have the opportunity to enrol in the Bachelor of Education programme at Institutes of Teacher Education (IPG), a programme previously offered only to Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) leavers.

“This is part of MOE’s strong commitment to ensuring that Form Six remains a top choice for post-SPM students and opens up wider opportunities for them,” she said.

In addition to students, Form Six teachers will also benefit through courses and training delivered as part of a corporate social responsibility initiative, in collaboration with the School Management Division and MEC, aimed at improving the quality of teaching and learning.

Fadhlina also expressed full support for MEC’s initiative to introduce a “patching” system for candidates who wish to improve their STPM results within the same year.

She said this approach would help students who want to retake and improve their results to do so in the same academic year, without waiting for the following year, giving them an advantage when applying for university entry in the current intake cycle.

Fadhlina also emphasised that the STPM is internationally recognised, on par with the GCE Advanced Level by Cambridge University Press and Assessment, thereby opening up broader opportunities for students to pursue studies abroad.

At the ceremony, MEC chairman Prof Datuk Dr Md Amin Md Taff announced that the 2024 STPM results recorded a national Cumulative Grade Point Average of 2.85, a 0.01-point increase from the previous year.

-- BERNAMA