KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad wants an overhaul of what students are taught to include technical knowledge such as artificial intelligence and coding, Education Minister Maszlee Malik said today.

In an interview with news portal Malaysiakini, the Simpang Renggam MP said the prime minister wanted students to be armed with the know-how needed to navigate the modern era.

"He (Mahathir) had a look at that (school timetables implemented for different streams) and came up with a proposal.

"He said it is not comprehensive enough. He sees too many subjects which segregate the children,” Maszlee was quoted saying.

Dr Mahathir also wanted students to use their time more effectively and pick up subjects that will prepare them for the fourth industrial revolution.

He said these included subjects such as programming, artificial intelligence (AI), data science, and more.

During his trip to Singapore last month, Dr Mahathir revealed that he had asked Maszlee to overhaul the school syllabi.

However, the PM did not say at the time what the overhaul would entail.