KUALA LUMPUR: The technical aspects of implementing the recent decision to make Bahasa Melayu and History subjects compulsory across all educational streams in the country's national curriculum are under review, says Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.
The Higher Education Minister said the review by both his ministry and the Education Ministry focuses on learning assessment, examinations and quality monitoring, particularly for international schools, rakyat religious schools, tahfiz schools and Chinese private schools.
"In these meetings, the Education Ministry discussed requirements for students in non-national curriculum schools to sit for Bahasa Melayu and History at Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) level.
"The Education Ministry will formally communicate all decisions to relevant parties," he said while winding up the debate on the Royal Address motion for the ministry in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (Feb 9)
Schools across all education systems, including international schools, religious schools and those under the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC), will be required to teach SPM-level Bahasa Melayu and History subjects under the new education plan.
Zambry also revealed that several discussion sessions have begun, including meetings between Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek and representatives from the United Chinese School Committees' Association of Malaysia (Dong Zong), the Chinese School Teachers Association (Jiao Zong), as well as tahfiz, rakyat religious and international schools.
For the Higher Education Ministry, Zambry said a stakeholder engagement session was held on Feb 4 with associations of Malaysian international schools, the British Malaysian Chambers of Commerce Education Committee, Help International Schools Group, Sunway International Schools and Taylor's Education Group.
During the session, international schools, religious schools and Chinese private schools confirmed that SPM examination pathways are already in place to enable students to continue their studies at public universities.
"Over 87% of private Chinese school students sit for the SPM," he said.
On changes to the Matriculation and Form Six programmes, Zambry said both ministries are reviewing legal, welfare, financial, staffing, system and asset considerations.
A joint steering committee comprising the Higher Education and Education ministries established on Dec 19, 2026, is assessing all aspects, including the optimisation of existing resources for both programmes.
The Higher Education Ministry, he added, would assume full responsibility for the pre-university system, including Form Six and Matriculation from 2027.
