PUTRAJAYA, Aug 5 — As Malaysia seeks to lift its rankings in global benchmarks on education standards, Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin expressed his ministry’s willingness to adapt plans to meet the changing demands in the country and the world.

Muhyiddin, who is also the deputy prime minister, said his ministry is always open to feedback from all Malaysians.

“We practise an open attitude, even though there are certain policies that are implemented and approved by the Cabinet and legislation, but we are prepared to change because the process of education is very dynamic, changing all the time,” he said during a speech at the appointment of the members of the National Education Advisory Council here.

Describing the education process as “very dynamic” and ever-changing, Muhyiddin again stressed the need to be open as it was difficult to predict the education requirements to meet the demands of developments at both the national and international level.

Today, Muhyiddin said the National Education Advisory Council is expected to help ensure the successful implementation of the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 and the National Higher Education Strategic Plan.

The 11-member National Education Advisory Council for the 2014-2016 session will be headed by Tan Sri Dr Abdul Rahman Arshad and includes Datuk Denison Jayasooria and Datuk Teo Kok Seong.

The Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 launched by Muhyiddin last September aims to put Malaysia in the upper third of two global benchmarks — the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), among other things.

In the TIMSS 2011 results released in December 2010, Malaysia’s scores for both mathematics and science were below the international average.

In the PISA 2012 results, Malaysian students recorded an average score of 421 for mathematics, which was below the 494 mean for countries within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) but above its score of 404 in 2009.

Reading ability fell the most, plunging to an average of 398 in the 2012; Malaysian students in the previous edition had recorded a score of 414, while the current OECD average was 496.

Science scores saw a minor decline versus the older findings, with Malaysians weighing at an average of 420 marks against 422 in 2009. Students in the 34 OECD countries received an average of 501.

Malaysia is now ranked 55th for science, down two spots from the previous assessment.

The combined results meant Malaysia was 52nd overall out of the 65 countries, and firmly entrenched in the bottom third of the survey.