Maszlee says Pisa results not minister’s report card, cautions against knee-jerk fixes

 

As detractors called for Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek’s head to roll, one of her predecessors, Maszlee Malik, said Malaysia’s declining performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) 2025 should not be weaponised against any education minister or government.

He argued that doing so would be unfair and unhelpful, given that educational outcomes are shaped over years rather than within the tenure of any single minister.

At the same time, Maszlee cautioned against searching for excuses to gloss over the disappointing figures, saying the results should instead be confronted with “calm, honesty, fairness, and responsibility”.

“Education does not move according to five-year political cycles. A child sitting for Pisa at the age of 15 carries with them learning experiences shaped since primary school, and even from early childhood education.

"That is why I see Pisa 2025 not as a ‘report card’ for any education minister or senior Education Ministry official. It is a ‘progress report’ for us as a nation,” he added.

Emphasising that the figures demand serious attention, Maszlee said it was deeply concerning that only around 35 percent of Malaysian students had attained at least the basic proficiency level in Mathematics, compared with 44 percent in reading and 54 percent in Science.

“For me, the bigger question is not Malaysia’s position on the global rankings. The question is: what is happening to our children’s ability to read deeply, understand, reason, solve problems, and apply knowledge to situations they have never encountered before?

“Pisa is not a test of memorisation. That is where we need to understand its message,” he added.

Untapped potential of students

Maszlee, who served as education minister under the Pakatan Harapan administration, said the results should not be viewed simply through the prism of failure, noting that the Malaysian data also contained an important dimension.

“Our students’ performance in computational problem-solving is considerably better than what might be expected based on their academic achievement. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also recorded relatively high levels of curiosity and interest in learning Science among Malaysian students. This is important!

“It means our children do not lack potential. They possess curiosity, problem-solving abilities, and the capacity to adapt to the digital world. Our challenge is how the education system can turn that potential into deep mastery of knowledge,” he explained.

Noting that the education landscape is undergoing rapid change, Maszlee said Pisa 2025 itself showed that declines in reading and learning were occurring in many countries.

“Today’s generation lives in an ecosystem of TikTok, short videos, smartphones, algorithms, and artificial intelligence. They receive more information than any previous generation, but that does not necessarily mean they read more deeply.

“That is why our response cannot simply be to add more exercises, more examinations, or more hours in school. We need to rebuild a culture of reading, and a habit of reading critically,” he added.

Teachers, AI, and equity

Maszlee also called for teachers to be given greater room to teach instead of being weighed down by administrative work, while stressing the need to strengthen the learning environment from early on.

“We need to strengthen literacy and numeracy from the earliest years of schooling. Therefore, we must make libraries, books, discussions, experiments, the arts, sports, and co-curricular activities part of the learning ecosystem, rather than accessories to examinations.

“We also need to teach children how to use AI, rather than allowing AI to use them. AI literacy today is not simply about knowing how to write prompts. Children need to learn how to question AI-generated answers, verify sources, detect errors, distinguish fact from opinion, and retain the ability to think without depending on machines,” he added.

Turning to the question of equity, which he described as impossible to ignore, Maszlee said socioeconomic backgrounds remain closely intertwined with educational achievement in Malaysia.

“An education reform that only lifts those who are already ahead is not reform.

“Schools in urban poor communities, rural areas, and communities with fewer opportunities must receive the best teachers, the best leadership, the best reading materials, and the best learning support,” he added.

Education reform that lasts

Calling on the Education Ministry not to respond to Pisa 2025 with “yet another quick-fix programme or a new slogan”, Maszlee said the focus should instead be on crafting an evidence-based recovery plan.

“Set five- to 10-year targets based on the new education plan that was recently launched. The data should also be published transparently, so that universities and independent researchers have the space to evaluate it. Based on the data, the Education Ministry should encourage schools to learn from schools that have succeeded in overcoming the socioeconomic backgrounds of their students. Most importantly, schools and teachers must be given stability to do the work of education.

“Education reform requires continuity. Good policies should not die when a minister changes. Likewise, ineffective policies should not be defended simply because they were introduced by the government in power.

“Pisa 2025 is not an excuse for us to point fingers at one another. It should instead be a national call for us to ask again what we truly want from education,” he added.

Maszlee also underscored the importance of building an education system that does more than produce children who can arrive at the correct answers, but instead nurtures them to ask the right questions, read the world critically, solve problems, remain curious, and possess both the courage and values to improve the world they inherit.

“In 2018, when I was entrusted with the Education Ministry, we sought to gradually shift the system from an examination culture towards a learning culture. We spoke about inquiry-based learning, teacher autonomy, joy in schools, reducing the administrative burden, abolishing examinations for Level 1 pupils, and more meaningful assessment.

“None of this was done because examinations were unimportant. It was done because education is far bigger than examinations. Today’s Pisa results remind us that this agenda remains,” he added. - Mkini