PETALING JAYA: Malaysia needs an immediate national education recovery plan with clear timelines and objectives following its disappointing performance in Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) 2025, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
The MCA president said the Education Ministry must come up with a national education recovery plan that has clear targets for all the three subjects of Mathematics, Reading and Science.
He stressed that the plan must also have clear key performance indicators (KPIs) mechanisms, timeframes, exact plans on how teachers and students will be assisted, as well as Malaysia’s target for the next Pisa assessment.
“This is not a political issue. This is about the future of our children, our workforce and Malaysia’s competitiveness.
“If we fail to improve education today, one generation will pay the price,” he said in a video posted on his social media channels on Thursday (Sept 18)..
This comes after Malaysia recorded its lowest ever overall average performance in Pisa 2025 since it officially began taking part in Pisa in 2009.
Malaysia recorded 397 points in Mathematics and 393 in Reading, while its Science score was reported as 416 for Pisa 2025 giving it an average point total of 403
Dr Wee said the latest results should serve as a major warning of the country’s future educational literacy.
“This is even lower than our average score of 404 in Pisa 2022, when our students were still facing major effects from the Covid-19 pandemic, the Movement Control Order and also school closures.
“As such, the 2025 Pisa results should be a major warning to the country,” he added
He also compared the latest Mathematics result with the 440 points recorded in 2018, saying the longer-term decline was even more worryingly significant.
Dr Wee also expressed his concern that Malaysia was falling behind regional neighbours, noting how Thailand had overtaken Malaysia in its average performance.
Thailand achieved 432 in Science, 407 in Maths, and 392 in Reading for Pisa 2025.
“In 2022, Malaysia’s average was still higher than Thailand’s but now in 2025, the situation has reversed, and we have also further fallen far behind Brunei,” he noted.
Dr Wee said Malaysia’s Pisa 2025 results should not simply be dismissed as caused by external factors affecting students and the education environment by the government.
“When the Education Minister says Pisa is not merely about numbers and rankings, I agree, but these numbers still show whether our children are progressing or falling behind.
“Whenever results decline, we cannot just turn to talking about context, families, cyberbullying or an increasingly complex world.
“The basic question still has not been answered: what exactly is the government’s plan to overcome this decline?,” he said.
Pisa is a worldwide study administered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) every three years.
The study, held in both OECD and non-OECD countries, is designed to measure the academic performance in reading, mathematics, and science of 15-year-olds students of said countries.
