The SPM is one of the most crucial examinations a student has to sit through as upon its completion, it prepares the student to step into tertiary education where they select their desired majors before obtaining a diploma or a degree.
But circumstances have changed, and some young people now don’t appear to indicate a desire to continue their education after completing SPM. According to a report by China Press, 390,000 SPM graduates—or 72.1%—have not indicated that they intend to or are interested in continuing their education after the SPM exams.
Keep in mind that the numbers was obtained from a survey of SPM students in the 2019 class, thus the numbers are probably going to rise for the 2020 and 2021 classes.
Riders & influencers
If they don’t intend to further their education, what do they have in mind, exactly? Here are the three main options that they tend to go for:
- E-hailing drivers
- Food delivery riders
- Social media influencers
Times have really changed. A decade ago, these options were not even on the list of career options.
Easy money!
A lecturer from a university in Perlis told Utusan that the lack of interest among the youth to pursue their studies is mostly due to the following reasons,
- Social media influence
- More opportunities online
- The mindset that having good results does not guarantee having good careers
For illustration purposes only
‘Most of them believe that it’s easier to apply for jobs through social media, and that they can get paid as much as the ones with higher academic qualifications,’ the lecturer added.
Not only that but the lecturer also believes that the challenges and difficulties in finding jobs despite having a degree have also caused them to ditch their education and move on to finding more career opportunities. He said that when applying for jobs, employers not only care about graduates’ grades and skills but also emphasize personality potential.
He also said students need to improve themselves, including leadership, integrity, resilience, professionalism, self-confidence and responsibility.
This post first appeared on WORLD OF BUZZ.
