PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia sits comfortably above the regional average in the latest South-East Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM).
The nation’s Year Five pupils scored an average of 314 points and 310 points in the Reading Literacy and Mathematics domains, respectively.
Across South-East Asia, the average score for Reading Literacy is 300 and Mathematics is 305.
“The SEA-PLM is a regional platform that allows us to transparently examine the extent to which Year Five pupils in Malaysia have mastered the fundamentals of learning – reading and mathematics.
“The findings allow us to understand the reality that is happening in the classroom,” said Education director-general Dr Mohd Azam Ahmad during the announcement of the results last Friday.
A total of 4,379 Year Five pupils from 158 primary schools, including national schools, Chinese schools, Tamil schools, national schools (Asli), government-aided religious schools and private schools participated in this regional assessment.
“The assessment was conducted in four languages – Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil, which correspond to the languages of instruction for the Reading Literacy and Mathematics domains in these schools, respectively,” he said.
He also said 69% of pupils are in Band 5 for Reading Literacy while 74% of them achieved the same for Mathematics.
Band 5 is the minimum proficiency level in reading and mathematics pupils should achieve at the end of primary schooling, in line with the Sustainable Development Goal indicator (SDG 4).
Overall, girls fared better than boys in reading but the gap between the two shrank from nine points (2019) to seven (2024).
“The findings show that 20.2% of male pupils are in Bands 2 and 3 compared to 12.8% of female pupils in those bands,” he added.
He said although girls led in Mathematics in 2019, by 2024, both groups recorded the same score of 310 points.
“When examined across proficiency level bands, male pupils showed a larger percentage in achieving Bands 8 and 9 at 17.4%, compared to females at 14.1%,” he said.
Mohd Azam said pupils living in urban areas performed better than those in rural areas in both domains.
However, the achievement gap between urban and rural pupils has narrowed.
He added that a significant achievement gap can be seen between pupils of low and high socioeconomic status, not only in Malaysia but also at regional level.
Although Malaysia did relatively well, the results are lower compared to 2019 by five points in each domain.
Mohd Azam said that this cohort is unique because they underwent PdPR (home-based teaching and learning) for almost two years while in Year One and Year Two, which was during the movement control order implemented from 2020 to 2021.
“The learning disruptions in this early phase of their schooling are a major factor affecting their mastery of basic skills and provided an important context for interpreting the SEA-PLM findings more accurately.
“Overall, the findings of SEA-PLM 2024 show a clear picture that Malaysia not only needs to strive to increase average scores, but also needs to ensure that every pupil, regardless of gender, location or socioeconomic background, receive fair and equitable basic learning opportunities,” he said.
Moving forward, Mohd Azam said the ministry’s next focus will be to ensure that all pupils achieve at least a minimum level of proficiency when they complete their primary school studies.
A total of seven countries took part in 2024 – the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Timor-Leste.
SEA-PLM assesses Year Five pupils in four domains – Reading Literacy, Mathematics, Writing and Global Citizenship.
However, only two domains – Reading Literacy and Mathematics – were announced.
