Kuala Lumpur - MALAY students have fallen behind other races in academic performances, especially in O Level English, according to the Education Ministry`s latest 10-year examinations report card released on Friday.
In 2006, 80.6 per cent of students passed the subject, down almost five per cent from 85.1 per cent in 2005.
The decline put a brake to almost 10 years of steady improvement in O level English by Malay students, since 1998 when just 58.2 per cent of them passed the subject.
But there have been steady improvements in the overall pass rate for English language, which exceeded 85 per cent.
The pass rates in Mother Tongue language and Mathematics for O level students have also risen to above 95 per cent and 85 per cent respectively.
The data on the performance of the major races in the three national exams - the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) and the O and A levels - is released every year to provide feedback to the communities on how their children have fared.
At the A level, the overall percentage of students who obtained at least 2 A and 2 AO level passes, including General Paper, remained above 90 per cent.
For the PSLE, the overall proportion of students who passed remained above 95 per cent.
Source: www.straitstimes.com (15 Desember 2007)