JOHOR BARU, MALAYSIA - The state has been ranked third out of the top five states nationwide in the recent Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examinations.

Johor Education director Sufa'at Tumin said the success was due to the state's excellent performance in the examination with a School Average Grade or "Gred Purata Sekolah" (GPS) of 2.22.

"We have achieved our goal of being named one of the top five states after years of planning and hard work.

"Credit should be given to the teachers and students of all primary schools in Johor," he said after announcing the UPSR results on Thursday.

He said that out of the 63,247 students who sat for the examinations, a total of 41,167 equivalent to 66.28% achieved at least a C in all subjects, which was higher than last year's 62.58%.

"The number of those who achieved D or E also went down with 1.88% students compared to 2.43% last year," he said adding that, the GPS recorded this year was the best ever.

Sufa'at said that 5,987 or 9.64% recorded As in all the subjects, which was an increase compared to 5,265 or 8.64% last year.

"All the subjects show an increase in passes (Grade A, B, C), with the exception of Mathematics, SJK Bahasa Melayu Pemahaman, Bahasa Cina Pemahaman and Bahasa Tamil Pemahaman.

"The teachers must work harder now to ensure that students improve on the subjects with low passing rates," he said.

He said that the passes for SJK Bahasa Melayu Pemahaman was 66.55% compared to 67.01% between 2003 and 2007 while, Bahasa Cina Pemahaman was 92.02% compared to 92.40% between 2003 and 2007.

He added that Bahasa Tamil Pemahaman recorded 90.14% passes compared to 90.94% between 2003 and 2007.