Efforts To Globalise STAM Shows Positive Signs - Exam Board Director

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), Jan 18 (Bernama) -- Efforts to take the Peperiksaan Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM) to the international level have shown progress when the examination, introduced here in 2000 was implemented in Cambodia. Examination Board Director Nawal Salleh said resulting from the collaboration between the Cambodian Mufti Office and the Malaysian Examination Board, 78 STAM candidates from Cambodia sat for the examination in their country last year. "Besides strengthening efforts to globalise STAM as stated in the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025, this move will also help lighten the financial burden on those candidates who want to sit for this certificate but have to take the examination in Malaysia," she said at a press conference in her office here Tuesday, on the history of STAM. She added the implementation of the examination in Cambodia would open up opportunities for similar initiatives in countries like Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore. Nawal said the number of candidates, including foreign, who sat for the examination increased each year, from less than 2,000 in 2000 to about 8,000 last year. Commenting on the history of STAM, Nawal said it was first introduced when the education ministry collaborated with the Al-Azhar Al-Syarif, a body responsible for managing the Al-Azhar University in Egypt in November 1999. In the early stages, STAM whose curriculum was taken from the Maahad Bu'uth Al-Islamiyyah Al-Azhar, contained three fields of study - Arabic Language, Syariah and Usuluddin which involved 10 subjects, all using the Arabic Language as the medium of instruction. The agreement, she said, saw Al-Azhar University allocating up to 700 places to STAM students from Malaysia for each study session. "Initially, STAM students could only pursue further education at the Al-Azhar University. Currently, they can obtain places in 10 public universities, with the Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) offering the most places," she added. Commenting further, Nawal said about 70 per cent of candidates who sat for STAM for the first time each year obtained their certificates, with at least a Maqbul (pass), the lowest of four grades comprising Mumtaz (excellent), Jayyid Jiddan (very good) and Jayyid (good). She noted job opportunities for STAM had also improved with those who obtained four Maqbul grades out of 10 subjects securing jobs as civil servants after the Public Service Department recognised STAM as equivalent to Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) in October 2009. She said the STAM 2016 results would be announced on Thursday, involving 8,784 candidates. Of these, 2,110 were from government schools and government-aided schools; 4,617 were candidates from state secondary schools; and, 680 from people's religious secondary schools. A total of 1,269 were private candidates, 30 were from private religious secondary schools and 78 were candidates from Cambodia. Candidates can get the results from their respective schools from 10am, while private candidates will be informed by post or can contact the state education department where they registered for the examination. Nawal said candidates could also check their results through MySMS 15888 which would be activated from 10am on Jan 19, before the service was terminated at 11.59pm on Jan 25. -- BERNAMA