PROGRESS in tackling basic reading, writing and arithmetic (3M) deficits among Year One pupils has slowed sharply, dropping by just 1,041 students in 2025.
Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said 48,636 Year One pupils were still struggling with 3M skills in 2025, compared with 49,677 in 2024.
The reduction was significantly smaller than the 27,085 recorded between 2023 and 2024, when the number fell from 76,762 to 49,677.
Wong said the Education Ministry had introduced a targeted Year One intervention programme in 2024 to identify pupils requiring additional support in mastering basic literacy and numeracy skills.
“Before targeted interventions began in 2024, a total of 76,762 Year One pupils were identified in 2023 as lacking basic 3M skills.
“Following the implementation of targeted interventions beginning in 2024, the number declined to 49,677 pupils and fell further to 48,636 in 2025,” he said during Question Time in Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
He was responding to Datuk Mohd Kurniawan Naim Moktar (BN-Kinabatangan) on the ministry’s strategy to prevent long-term educational exclusion among pupils in hardcore poverty.
Despite the slower reduction in the number of Year One pupils struggling with basic skills, Wong said Malaysia had made encouraging progress in narrowing educational achievement gaps at the secondary school level.
He said the proportion of rural candidates qualifying for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) certificate increased to 92.9% in 2025, compared with 92.31% in 2024.
He added that the SPM average grade gap between urban and rural schools has narrowed by 32.79% compared with 2012 levels.
Wong said the gender gap among candidates qualifying for the SPM certificate had similarly narrowed.
“In 2024, the gender gap in the proportion of candidates qualifying for the certificate stood at 5.95%.
“However, this declined to 5.32% in 2025,” he said of the trend where female candidates consistently record higher passing percentages across nearly all core subjects, including Malay, English, History, Mathematics and Science.
