A COMPREHENSIVE student tracking system has been developed – which is designed to monitor movement of school students, specifically on those at risk of dropping out, those that have already dropped out, as well as children at risk of not having access to education, says Wong Kah Woh.
The Deputy Education Minister said his ministry is committed to ensuring that every school student receives a holistic and inclusive education, regardless of their background.
He added that the ministry maintained a zero-tolerance policy on issues related to school attendance, dropout rates and access to quality education, with several measures implemented to address those issues.
“As part of a progressive approach, the Education Ministry has developed Sistem Pengesanan Murid KPM (SiPKPM), a comprehensive student tracking system designed to monitor student movement.
“The system is currently being enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI) to improve efficiency in addressing dropout issues.
“This AI-powered system helps schools track individual students, enabling targeted intervention and early action,” he said in reply to Azli Yusof (PH-Shah Alam) during Question Time.
Azli had asked the Education Ministry to explain the proactive measures taken to address issues related to attendance, dropout rates and access to quality education for all children – regardless of their background – as part of the government’s ongoing commitment to improving the quality of the national education system.
Wong said the Education Ministry also implemented various other programmes to ensure broader and more inclusive access to education.
“Under the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 (PPPM) initiative, it will focus on addressing student dropout rates and improving educational access from preschool to upper secondary levels.
“In line with this, the Education Ministry has carried out outreach programmes in collaboration with the state education departments (JPN), district education offices (PPD) and local community engagement efforts to reintegrate dropouts into the school system.
“In 2024 alone, this initiative successfully brought 883 primary school pupils and 1,990 secondary school students back into the education system,” said Wong.
To ensure that students in rural and remote areas remained in school, the ministry also introduced the Comprehensive Special Model Schools 9 (K9) and was now expanding the concept to Comprehensive Schools 11 (K11).
“This initiative aims to reduce dropout rates during the transition from primary to secondary school, as well as from Form 3 to Form 4,” he said.
He added that the ministry has also developed the School Absenteeism Management During Examinations app.
“This application enables schools to record the reasons for student absenteeism during the SPM examination, helping to formulate appropriate intervention strategies,” he said.
A total of 18 types of school aid programmes were also introduced, comprising 13 targeted assistance schemes and five general assistance programmes, he added.
