IPOH: SMK Gunung Rapat student S.R. Venodh Rao was surprised to get 9A+ after receiving his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) results.

       The 18-year-old said he did not expect to get all As as one of the papers was quite hard.

       ALSO READ: SPM 2021: Slight dip in national average grade

       “I still remember how hard the Biology paper was and I thought to myself that I may not score and would have to wave goodbye to my dreams of becoming a cardiologist.

       “When my teacher told me about my results, I was shocked but also excited that I can make my parents and family proud,” he said when met at the school after receiving his SPM certificate on Thursday (June 16).

       ALSO READ: SPM 2021 results: 30 students in Johor score straight A+'s

       "I hope I can be accepted into a good university and also get a scholarship so I don't have to burden my family.

       "I want to be the first doctor in my family," he said.

       ALSO READ: 17 SPM students scored straight A+ in Penang

       Muhammad Syafiq Izran Mohd Zaki managed to score 7As despite facing difficulties with online learning due to poor Internet connection while relying only on a mobile phone.

       The 18-year-old student from Felda Besout, Sungkai said he thanked his teachers and friends for assisting him while studying online.

       “There are days when I can’t even log in for online classes.

       "I had to rely on my classmates and teachers to hand in my assignments," he said, adding that his grandfather drove him all the way to the school to pick up his results.

       "I thought I could only get 4As.

       “I hope that with this result, I can be accepted into an Institute of Teacher Education because it is my dream to be a physical education teacher,” he said, adding that he scored As in Bahasa Malaysia, Islamic Education, History, Mathematics, Science, Principal Account and Economy.

       At a press conference held earlier, Perak Education Department deputy director Rahimah Mohamed said a total of 33,144 candidates took SPM in the state for 2021.

       She said this included students from private schools, national schools, and religious schools.

       “A total of 787 or 2.73% candidates scored all As (A+, A, and A-), with 17 students scoring all A+.

       “We also have 102 candidates with special needs whereby two of them, with physical disabilities, scored all As in their results,” she said.