ON May 27, the SPM results were released. It was reported that 11,713 candidates scored straight As. The Education director-general and the state education directors were elated as the national average grade was higher than in 2022 and 2021. Sixty-six subjects saw higher grades, 25 lower, and four were unchanged.

I don’t like to spoil the party, but were the results in harmony with the 2013-2025 Education Blueprint, the TIMSS and PISA findings of 2022, and the World Bank Report in April 2024? 

The Education Blueprint is the result of extensive research and public engagement with the following objectives: 

* Understanding the challenges to improve access to education, raising standards, closing achievement gaps (equity), fostering unity among students, and maximising system efficiency.

* Establishing a clear vision and aspirations for individual students and the education system as a whole.

* Outlining a comprehensive transformation programme, including key changes to the ministry to meet new demands and expectations and to ignite and support overall civil service transformation.

The National Education Philosophy, written in 1988 and revised in 1996, is the government’s vision of education for the intellectual, spiritual, emotional, and physical development of Malaysians.

In 2011, we spend at 3.8% of GDP on education. In 2022, we spent 3.5% of GDP. For 2024, the allocation for education is RM75 billion, or 19% of the budget.

PISA 2022 results our students fared the worst in reading. We finished 51st amongst 81 countries. After spending so much, why did we fare so badly?

The blueprint targets a top three position for Malaysia, but we are close to the bottom third. The curriculum should focus on teaching subjects in depth rather than breadth, yet we have 95 subjects for the SPM exam. It should also be structured and designed to encourage students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Students who perform well in reading, mathematics, and science tend to apply critical thinking skills.

Socio-economically advantaged students outperformed disadvantaged students in mathematics. The World Bank report in April 2024 showed poor teacher preparedness and a lack of robust performance tracking systems contributed to poor educational outcomes. Forty percent of students fail to achieve reading proficiency in Standard 5, higher than in other countries with similar gross national incomes per capita. Students spend an average of 12.5 years in school but learn the equivalent of only 8.9 years. In Vietnam, students spend an average of 12.9 years and learn the equivalent of 10.7 years, while Singaporean students spend 13.9 years and learn the equivalent of 12.8 years.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim himself said the state of education in the country is the “worst in Asean”.

In 2023, only 15% of SPM students were in the pure science stream, a decline from 43% in 2002. Seventy percent of students find mathematics and science hard to comprehend. Subjects with the highest percentage of A results 2343 Pendidikan Al-Quran dan Al-Sunnah and Usul Al-Din. Subjects with the highest percentage of failures were additional mathematics and mathematics.

The decline is worrying as we aim to become a high-income and globally competitive country.

What is the status of the blueprint now? Was it drafted  in the context of economic development or in isolation? Where is the focus on students, and what about the teachers who deserve special attention? How is their recruitment process? Do they get quality training? What about personal and professional development?

We are on dangerous grounds and must act urgently against poor policy execution, lack of accountability, and the politicisation of education. There must be holistic improvements rather than selective achievements. – June 2, 2024.

* Saleh Mohammed reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.