Form 6 colleges to be rebranded as pre-university colleges

KUALA LUMPUR – The Education Ministry is planning to rebrand Form 6 colleges to ministry pre-university colleges, said minister Fadhlina Sidek.

She said the move will give it a new image, adding that it is also the ministry’s commitment to ensure that the Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) examination will be an option among students who wish to pursue their studies.

“With the rebranding of the Form 6 education system (there will be term changes) from pupils to students, teachers to lecturers, principals to directors, and senior assistant teachers to deputy directors,” she said when speaking at an award ceremony for 2022’s top STPM achievers, as well as for the Malaysian University English Test and the Malay Language Proficiency Certification for Non-Malaysians here, today.

When asked after the ceremony, Fadhlina said only the job titles will change but the salary grades will remain the same.

She said the ministry has also granted autonomous power to the principals of Form 6 schools, effective immediately, to relax the conditions for the entry of students of which the principals are now allowed to offer spots to qualified candidates and those who want to continue their studies, if they are still vacancies. 

“It is part of the ministry’s efforts to reduce dropouts because previously the admission process for Form 6 students was via the offer from the ministry. The ministry might overlook students who are eligible to continue their studies at the STPM level,” she said, adding that the autonomy given to the principals to identify eligible students will be an effective and efficient approach to provide the opportunity for students to pursue their studies.

The ministry is also working to increase the number of excellent Form 6 teachers, which currently accounts for only about 0.5% or 60 teachers out of the total number of teachers teaching sixth formers, she said, adding that the ministry will also review the instruments and rubrics used to evaluate these teachers to improve their quality and professionalism.

On the registration of students into Form 6, she said 67% of those offered have registered and confirmed to pursue the studies, so far.

On another development, Fadhlina said the ministry has identified that 10,000 candidates have applied to resit the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination comprising candidates who did not sit for the exam from various years, adding the remaining 20,000 people are still being identified.

The ministry had previously confirmed that nearly 30,000 candidates who were registered did not sit for the 2022 SPM. – Bernama, July 13, 2023