KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's new ten-year education blueprint starting 2026 will focus on strengthening the English language in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and pre-school subjects while upholding Bahasa Melayu as the national language.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek (pic) said the blueprint’s plans for new curriculum would involve a 50-50 usage of languages, meaning 50% of Bahasa Melayu and 50% of English
“This is very important to expose our children, at an early stage especially, to the value and usage of both Bahasa Melayu and English,” she said at the "Education Reform: Raising the Floor" session of the Malaysian Economic Forum 2025 on Thursday (Jan 9).
Fadhlina said the comprehensive blueprint that will replace the current plan ending this year will prepare the nation's education for the demands of the future, focusing on reforms to improve education quality, accessibility and relevance for students nationwide.
"Among the key areas are granting more guided autonomy to schools, student development, the convergence and implementation of digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the learning and teaching process.
"Additionally, it will address challenges such as bullying and mental health issues among students and educators, as well as matters related to equality and the education gap,” she said.
She said all major engagement sessions with stakeholders, including experts, were completed last month, with the inputs to be finalised before it is implemented end of the year.
Last year, the Education Ministry invited the public to submit suggestions on the new blueprint through the Proposals for the Future of Malaysian Education 2026-2036 portal developed by the ministry.
She said various achievements were recorded in the current education blueprint, including Malaysia achieving near-universal access Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) for primary and lower secondary education in 2020, with GER of 98.2% and 95.3% while the upper secondary level GER was at 88%. - Bernama
