Draft proposal to make secondary education compulsory submitted to AGC

KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry has submitted a draft proposal to the Attorney General's Chambers to make secondary education compulsory, the Dewan Negara was told.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the move was the ministry's commitment to ensure no student drops out at either the primary and secondary levels.

"At present, the Education Policy states that under the 1996 Education Act, education is only compulsory up to Year Six. But the ministry is committed and we have raised and publicised (this matter)," she said in her response during Question Time on Tuesday (March 21).

She was replying to a supplementary question from Senator Datuk R. Nelson who wanted to know if the ministry would make secondary education compulsory.

Section 29A(2) of the 1996 Education Act states that parents must send their children to attend primary school lessons for six years, failing which, they could be fined not more than RM5,000 or jailed not exceeding six months, or both.

Fadhlina said at the moment, her ministry was implementing the Comprehensive Special Model School K9 and K11 programme.

She said the K9 programme is to ensure that children do not drop out from Year 1 to Form 3 while K11 is to ensure that children continue to be in school from Year 1 to Form 5. – Bernama