Education will be govt's primary focus in 2024, says PM

PETALING JAYA: A focus on improving the quality of education nationwide will be the government’s primary focus for the next year, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar said this was to ensure the country would be able to meet the expected increase in demand for skilled workers over the coming years.

"As we know China-based Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and Proton Holdings Bhd’s automotive city project is now underway and a globally-renowned German company has also pledged to invest RM25bil into Malaysia earlier this year.

"The German company’s goal is to turn Malaysia from a back-end manufacturer of microchips to a front-end manufacturer of chips, which will turn us into one of the producers of some of the most advanced microchips in the world.

"As such we will need more skilled workers to meet the upcoming demand or risk forcing these companies to depend on foreign expertise," he said, at the One Year Thanksgiving Ceremony of the Madani Government at Putrajaya on Thursday (Nov 23) night.

On this, he said the focus would be on improving the mastery of both English and Malay as well as technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in Malaysia.

He stressed that the mastery of both Malay and English among students in particular would be essential to this goal.

"Every modern developed country today has made it a point for their people to learn and master at least two languages and we must do the same.

"As such, the Malay language must be our primary language which is mastered by everybody in Malaysia, including those in private and international schools. If that student is a Malaysian, they must master Malay," he said.

Anwar also gave his assurance that his government would begin taking a stricter and transparent approach to both developing the economy as well as cracking down on the misuse of power and corruption in the country.