SEMENYIH: Discussions are still ongoing over efforts to amend the Education Act 1996 to make secondary education mandatory, says Fadhlina Sidek.
The Education Minister said that while the ministry hopes it will be included in the upcoming parliamentary session, the engagement process continues to ensure all parties are aligned in supporting and endorsing the amendments.
“We are currently waiting for our turn. If not, then it will be during the next parliamentary session, but our engagement session is ongoing,” she said during the opening ceremony of SK Taman Pelangi here today (Feb 17).
On Dec 19 last year, Fadhlina announced that the Bill to amend the Education Act 1996 (Act 550) to make secondary education compulsory is expected to be tabled at Dewan Rakyat this month.
She stated that the Education Ministry has submitted the bill to the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) for review and aims to present it during the next parliamentary session.
Meanwhile, Fadhlina clarified that the actual figure for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) students absent from exams stands at just over 8,000, with approximately 6,000 of those students being from schools under the Education Ministry.
She highlighted that interventions implemented by the ministry have successfully improved attendance rates over the years.
"For example, even during the floods, the student evacuations that we carried out ensured 97% of their attendance for SPM. The same goes for the programmes implemented by all district education offices and state education departments,” she said.
On Feb 13, Fadhlina told the Dewan Rakyat that some 8,076 SPM examination students were reportedly absent from all of their written papers as of Feb 6, 2025.
The Education Minister said her ministry viewed the issue of absenteeism among candidates for the SPM examination seriously.
"Based on the ministry's data up to Feb 6, 2025, 8,076 candidates were reported absent for all written examination papers, of which 6,231 were from schools under the Education Ministry.
"The official attendance data for the 2024 SPM examination will only be released on the day the results are announced," she said in reply to a question from Datuk Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi (PN-Kuala Langat).
Separately, Fadhlina also addressed concerns regarding delays in school construction projects.
She reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to strictly monitoring school construction projects in order to prevent delays from escalating into ‘sick projects’.
"At the ministry level, we have made significant advancements in work processes and discipline monitoring to ensure construction timelines are adhered to," she said.
