SEPTEMBER 5 — If AI can write the essay, solve the problem and plan the lesson, what exactly should our children and teachers still learn to do?
This is no longer a futuristic question. It is an immediate education policy challenge. As artificial intelligence enters classrooms and teachers’ daily work, the issue is not simply how much technology education should adopt, but how education can remain deeply human.
The OECD Digital Education Outlook 2026 reports that 37 per cent of lower-secondary teachers used AI in their work in 2024, while 57 per cent agreed that AI helps improve lesson planning. Yet 72 per cent believed AI could undermine academic integrity. The OECD also warns that AI may improve task performance without producing genuine learning when students outsource cognitive work to machines.
For curriculum practitioners, this creates a critical paradox: AI can make education more efficient while potentially weakening independent thinking. If machines can increasingly produce answers, education must focus more deliberately on developing capabilities that cannot be outsourced. This is where Insan Sejahtera, grounded in the Falsafah Pendidikan Kebangsaan and reflected in the Rancangan Pendidikan Malaysia 2026–2035, becomes increasingly relevant. The purpose of education is not merely to produce high achievers, but balanced, capable and responsible human beings.
In the age of AI, the Flourishing Human is Beradab, Berilmu, Berkemahiran, Berdaya Tahan and Berkeyakinan. Curriculum should develop learners who think critically and question AI outputs (Berilmu), apply knowledge creatively and collaboratively (Berkemahiran), demonstrate empathy, integrity and responsibility (Beradab), persist through challenges and learn from failure (Berdaya Tahan), and exercise confidence, agency and ethical judgement (Berkeyakinan). These qualities ensure that AI remains a tool for human development rather than a substitute for human capability.
To uphold, this vision requires action. A Human-First AI Curriculum should embed age-appropriate AI literacy across subjects, while assessment should prioritise authentic evidence of thinking through reasoning, reflection, projects, portfolios and oral defence. Teachers must be empowered through sustained AI-pedagogy development, supported by practical school-level governance covering privacy, safety, academic integrity and human oversight. Equitable access must also ensure that technology does not deepen existing educational inequalities.
Ultimately, the success of AI in education should not be measured by how much technology schools adopt, but by what kind of human being education develops. The future-ready learner is not the one who asks AI for every answer, but the one who knows what to ask, what to question, what to create, what to value and when to think independently.
Technology serves humanity. Education develops humanity. Insan Sejahtera enables humanity to flourish.
* Dr Siti Noor Aneeis Hashim and Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Noor Abdul Aziz are with the Curriculum Instruction Unit, School of Education, Universiti Utara Malaysia.
** This is the personal opinion of the writers or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
