THE release of SPM 2024 results has set social media abuzz — with a jaw-dropping 14,000 students scoring straight As, Malaysians are wondering: Is this a sign of academic excellence skyrocketing, or a reflection of a lowered grading bar?
Back in the day, achieving straight As in SPM was newsworthy as a front page story.
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Now, with five-figure numbers hitting that benchmark, some netizens are skeptical.
One user called aziley posted on Threads: “14,000 students got straight As in SPM 2024. Back in our day, those who got straight As would be featured in the newspapers.
“So is it that students today have truly performed much better, or has the grading curve been lowered so more people can benefit from better results?”
Many netizens have flooded the comments section — some argue that it’s actually tougher nowadays with more subjects and higher expectations, while others point out that even an E is considered a pass now, questioning the real value of the grades.
“Looking at their syllabus, it’s actually harder than what we had back then. But students nowadays have way more opportunities and resources to help them score easily compared to us,” one user called bunnybibie commented.
“Nowadays even Grade E is considered a pass, like seriously?? This is so frustrating!! D, E, F, G should be fail! How can they be counted as a pass?” theglacester questioned.
“Now with Gemini, ChatGPT, DeepSeek, and all these AI apps, there’s really no reason not to get straight As. Parents just need to be smart about guiding their children to use technology wisely for learning,” itswildannaem wrote.
