How many hours of STEM learning do our kids need?

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AS our nation aggressively pursues its transition into a high-income, tech-driven economy, a critical spotlight is falling on the classroom, specifically regarding the amount of time Malaysian students spend on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, better known as STEM.

This conversation has gained immense traction with the Education Ministry recently announcing an increase in Mathematics instruction time to 608 hours under the upcoming 2027 curriculum, effectively bumping weekly maths lessons up to 3.5 hours for early primary pupils.

Prompted by this significant shift, educators, parents, and policymakers are vigorously debating the exact instructional formula needed to build a future-ready workforce. The crux of the matter is not just about incrementally extending the school day, but rather about calculating the precise number of hours and the quality of instruction that will generate a profound impact on a student’s ability to innovate, solve complex problems, and ultimately drive the country’s economic leap.

To understand why this recalculation of STEM hours is so urgent, we must confront the reality of Malaysia’s current standing on the global stage. Recent international assessments paint a sobering picture that underscores the need for immediate structural intervention.

In the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), Malaysia ranked 53rd out of 81 participating countries, recording a scientific literacy score of 416. This is a significant and worrying gap of 69 points below the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) average of 485. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) placed Malaysia 26th out of 39 countries in recent evaluation cycles.

These figures highlight a critical deficit in higher-order thinking skills compared with peers in top-tier nations. High-performing countries in these assessments, such as Finland, Singapore, and South Korea, do not necessarily bombard their students with endless hours of rote memorisation; instead, they employ highly efficient, continuous blocks of time dedicated to deep, inquiry-based learning that Malaysia’s current system has historically lacked.

Historically, the Malaysian school timetable has attempted to balance a heavy load of core, compulsory, and elective subjects, often diluting focused STEM immersion in the foundational years. While the new 2027 curriculum’s move to 3.5 hours of maths for early primary pupils is an excellent baseline, achieving high-income status requires a more holistic “golden ratio” for all STEM subjects.

Educational benchmarks suggest that for primary education, dedicating a solid seven to nine hours a week to foundational STEM is ideal. This roughly translates to four to five hours of applied mathematics and three to four hours of integrated science and digital literacy. This approach ensures that students build an intuitive grasp of logic and scientific inquiry before reaching adolescence, dedicating about 30% of their learning week to these critical areas rather than fragmenting their attention across too many brief, 30- to 40-minute intervals that barely allow an experiment to begin.

Moving into secondary education, the application stage requires even more strategic time management, characterised by longer, uninterrupted blocks of instruction. Core STEM students should engage in eight to 10 hours weekly, while those in advanced science and technology streams require 16 to 18 hours. Crucially, these hours must be structured into one-and-a-half to two-hour continuous blocks to allow for meaningful project-based learning, coding marathons, and collaborative laboratory work that mirror real-world industry environments.

Ultimately, merely hitting targets like 608 hours will not magically produce the engineers and data scientists required for a high-income economy unless the fundamental quality of those instructional hours undergoes a radical transformation. Time must be explicitly redirected away from copying textbook diagrams towards interdisciplinary projects, robotics, and critical analysis.

Backed by fully equipped laboratories, stable digital infrastructure, and upskilled teachers, these optimised STEM hours will become the high-value investment needed to build Malaysia’s tech-driven future.

DR MUHAMMAD AMMIRRUL ATIQI MOHD ZAINURI

Senior lecturer

Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia