Pros and Cons of Studying STPM
December 12, 2009
What should I do after SPM? Should I study STPM? – These are the few frequent questions which we get from students be it from face-to-face talk or via e-mails.
Pro and Cons of taking STPM
Most Young Berries would think whether to take STPM or not. This is one of the major decision that most young berries need to make after the SPM examination. This is a berry berry tough decision.
First of all, young berries must know how the STPM system works. STPM is currently an exam-based system, where students can only score through studying hard. STPM grade are one of the toughest examination with berry berry wide syllabus (for example, Biology and Chemistry STPM have 25 chapters and 35 chapters respectively !!!). This means that on average until you take your STPM examinations, your Chemistry teacher needs to complete a chapter! Besides the student, the teacher also needs to be berry berry tough person! Also, if you do badly you might not even enter a public university.The two main reasons for most Young Berries who studied STPM are:
- not able to afford private schooling
- and/or have faith in the local education system.
In year 2011 (tentatively), the Malaysian government will implement a new system of “modular system” which is much easier. Young Berries will then need to complete projects (subject-based) and attend colloquiums. But the con is these projects require young berries to spend most their time on research and preparation, which it may or may not justify the knowledge gained. These projects may be tiring and leaving young berries no time to revise.
Present day (2010) Pros and Cons of Studying STPM
| Pros of Taking STPM | Cons of Taking STPM |
| In-depth learning. | Wide syllabus. |
| 15 experiments/projects need to do for each science subject. | Time consuming. |
| Widely recognise (accepted by NUS and NTU, Singapore) | Tough examination. |
| Save money | Spend most of the time on revision. |
Berry Berry Easy would also like to invite all readers who have had experience studying STPM to share your thoughts on this matter. We will include your comments/ideas in the post. For SPM-leavers who are still undecided, you may also discuss this issue with us (dropping comments will be sufficient).
Please also view the other berry related posts:
- Types of Examination Paper : STPM 2009 Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics
- STPM Chemistry 2009 – Tips and Predictions for Papers 962/1 and 962/2
- SPM/STPM 2009 Tips and Predictions Availability
- STPM Biology 2009 – Tips and Predictions for Papers 964/1 and 964/2
- STPM – General Tips and Strategies – for Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology and General Paper
