Azman: The ministry always strives to ensure that every Malaysian child has access to quality education.
THE country has been successful in increasing student access to quality education, according to the recently published Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 annual report.
Education Ministry director-general Azman Adnan said the 2023 annual report showed an increase in enrolment from preschool right up to upper secondary school, as well as better learning outcome among students.
“In terms of access, we focused on increasing enrolment at the secondary, primary and preschool levels to tackle the dropout issue,” he said during a special briefing on the report in Putrajaya on Nov 11.
Access to education, he added, was among the targets set in the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025.
He said enrolment in primary and secondary schools were 99.11% and 93.65% respectively, last year.
A small remaining percentage did not have access to education for reasons including economic and geographical constraints, as well as socio-cultural reasons.
“Some families were unable to afford the education, and there were children who had to work to support their families too.
“Others are not in school due to chronic illnesses, are disabled or are undocumented children,” he said, adding that there is still a lack of parental awareness on the importance of education.
Meanwhile, enrolment in preschools has increased from 88.81% in 2022 to 90.67% in 2023 for those aged five and above.
“The enhanced access to education is the result of our reform agenda which was carried out at all schooling levels,” he said, adding that preschool classes are now expanded to various educational institutions, other than primary schools, under its purview.
“These are especially for children from B40 families.” Azman also said, technical, vocational education and training (TVET) enrolment rose significantly from 6.66% last year to 10.51% currently. This, he noted, is the highest to date.
“And, TVET graduate employability now stands at 99.38%,” he shared.
Quality education
Azman said there has been an increase especially in literacy and numeracy for primary school students.
The ministry has, among others, expanded its Literacy and Numeracy Programme (PLAN) to all 7,777 primary schools this year from 800 schools in 2020, he added.
Meant for Level One students, this programme focuses on improving students’ literacy and numeracy in Bahasa Malaysia (BM), English, and mathematics.
“Based on our observations, the intervention has made an impact on the students. The number of students who have to continue the intervention from Year One to Year Two and Year Two to Year Three has been declining,” he said, highlighting the impact of the curriculum intervention that was announced as part of the ministry’s education reform agenda.The intervention, he explained, sees Year One students undergoing a literacy and numeracy assessment one month after starting school.“Based on their (proficiency) status, we carry out an intervention for three months,” he said, adding that they will re-enter mainstream classes after passing the post-intervention assessment.
The latest Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) results also point to an improvement in education quality, said Azman, with 93.5% of the candidates obtaining their certificates compared to 91.6% in 2022.
Furthermore, in 2023, the gender and socio-economic gaps also narrowed from 7.5% and 8.95%, to 6.51% and 3.85% as compared to 2022, respectively.
Effective measures
He said the blueprint also stressed on the need for higher order thinking skills (HOTS) among students which the ministry has implemented through various initiatives such as teacher training.
“HOTS should be part of our culture. HOTS must be applied in classrooms as well as during co-curricular activities.
“Teachers need to use a variety of teaching techniques and pedagogy to achieve this goal,” he said, adding that up to 2023, 98.65% of teachers have achieved a “good” or “excellent” assessment in HOTS-based teaching and learning.
This, he explained, meant that the teachers scored at least 61% in using the Standard Instrument for the Evaluation of HOTS Culture (Instrumen Standard Penilaian Pembudayaan KBAT).
To keep kids in school, Azman said a taskforce has been set up in every school to identify students at risk of dropping out.
There are also 18 different aids given for students who might have difficulty attending school due to finances, he said, including the Preschool Food Assistance, Pupils with Special Needs Allowance and Early School Assistance.
For Orang Asli children, Azman said the ministry has established K9 Special Model Schools.
These schools cover education from preschool up to Form Three, making it easier for these children to gain an education without having to travel far.
The model is currently being expanded to include Form Four and Five and is known as the K11 Special Model School.
“The K11 Special Model School concept is also expected to be able to reduce the dropout rate of students transitioning from Form Three to Form Four or transitioning from lower secondary to upper secondary.
“The ministry always strives to ensure that every Malaysian child has access to quality education regardless of their diverse backgrounds,” added Azman.
