BUKIT MERTAJAM, Dec 14 — The Ministry of Education (MOE) has recorded several major achievements over the past three years in implementing education reforms, including the enforcement of compulsory secondary education, efforts to reduce educators’ workload, and the construction and rehabilitation of schools, nationwide.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the implementation of these education reforms will continue to be strengthened, with the ministry focusing next year on preparing teachers for the rollout of the 2027 school curriculum. The curriculum will be implemented in stages, beginning in 2026 at the preschool level, followed by Year One and Form One in 2027.

“The MOE’s ongoing commitment to reducing teachers’ workload will enable educators to focus fully on teaching and learning (PdP), including strengthening pedagogical mastery and effectively implementing reforms in the classroom.

“We want teachers to be able to concentrate in the classroom, enhance the PdP quality, and carry out reforms in their teaching practices,” she said at a press conference after the handover ceremony of the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Sheikh Tahir Jalaluddin project, here, today.

Fadhlina said that, among the ministry’s most significant achievements was the approval of the Education (Amendment) Bill 2025 in Parliament, which made secondary education compulsory up to Form Five.

With the amendments, every Malaysian child is now legally protected to remain in the education system until the completion of secondary school, ensuring that there are no dropouts after Year Six.

She said that the MOE also succeeded in the recruitment of 52,948 new teachers, achieving a filling rate of 98 per cent — the highest in almost a decade — thereby ensuring that nearly all classes nationwide are staffed with adequate teaching personnel.

In terms of school safety, Fadhlina said that the MOE is simultaneously implementing 11 safe schools initiatives, nationwide, including an allocation of RM5 million for the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and the appointment of 10,096 new teachers and counsellors, and 600 assistant dormitory wardens.

Commenting on post-pandemic recovery, she said that the national school calendar will resume its January start, beginning with the 2026 academic session, following four years of disrupted schedules, in line with the needs of parents and teachers.

She added that the literacy and numeracy intervention programme has also shown positive results, with 398,496 students successfully mastering basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic (3M), an increase from 326,051 students prior to the implementation of the intervention.

In efforts to reduce the burden on teachers, Fadhlina said that the MOE is implementing task reforms that include the appointment of 562 assistant teachers, the placement of 600 assistant wardens under the Malaysia Short-Term Employment Programme (MySTEP) initiative, the provision of operational support in 281 secondary schools, and improvements to the Daily Lesson Plan (RPH).

She added that the construction and rehabilitation of educational infrastructure have also recorded strong progress, with 44 new schools built and 44 dilapidated school projects completed by 2025.

Fadhlina said that efforts to expand early childhood education have also been strengthened, through the extension of MOE preschools to national secondary schools, vocational colleges and Institutes of Teacher Education (IPGs), thereby increasing access to early education in urban, rural and remote areas.

Commenting on initiatives to address school dropouts in remote areas, she said that the expansion of K9 and K11 schools has succeeded in achieving a zero dropout rate, with students remaining in school until they complete secondary education. — Bernama