KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 — The Ministry of Education (MOE) plans to expand the K11 Comprehensive School Programme to 10 more schools next year to improve access to education from primary to secondary level, particularly in rural areas.
Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said nine schools had implemented the programme since its introduction in 2023, enabling students to complete their education from Year One to Form Five under one roof.
He said the pilot programme was first introduced at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Long Bedian in Sarawak and SMK Benta in Pahang.
“We are aware that some schools are not yet ready to transition to K9 or K11 schools. However, provided the conditions are suitable, the ministry will ensure that access to education remains available,” he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He added that the ministry provided 18 types of assistance to schoolchildren in both urban and rural areas.
Wong was responding to a question from Datuk Mohd Kurniawan Naim Moktar (BN-Kinabatangan) on the ministry’s strategic action plan to address the risk of long-term school dropout among students from multidimensionally hardcore poor households.
He said the ministry continued to narrow the educational gap through targeted interventions and periodic curriculum improvements as part of its long-term strategy.
Under the District Transformation Programme, targeted interventions were implemented in 744 schools in 2025, benefiting 41,817 students across six core subjects.
The initiatives aimed to address disparities in academic achievement based on geographical location, socioeconomic background and gender.
Wong said the proportion of rural Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) candidates eligible to receive their certificates rose from 92.31 per cent in 2024 to 92.9 per cent in 2025.
Meanwhile, the gender gap in certificate eligibility rates narrowed from 5.95 percentage points to 5.32 percentage points over the same period.
He said the targeted interventions, academic support and curriculum improvements reflected the ministry’s commitment to promoting educational equity and ensuring that every student had access to quality education, regardless of socioeconomic background. — Bernama
