New blueprint set to reshape education system, meet future demand - Fadhlina

She said the comprehensive Malaysia Future Education Blueprint 2026-2036 is intended to replace the current plan that will conclude this year.

She added that the new plan would focus on a wide range of reforms aimed at improving the quality, accessibility and relevance of education for students nationwide.

"Among the key areas are granting more guided autonomy to schools, student development, the convergence and implementation of digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the learning and teaching process.

"Additionally, it will address challenges such as bullying and mental health issues among students and educators, as well as matters related to equality and the education gap," she said.

Fadhlina said this during a forum on "Education Reform: Raising the Floor" at the Malaysian Economic Forum (FEM) 2025 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) today.

She said all major engagement sessions with stakeholders, including experts, were completed last month and, moving towards the end of this year, the process will finalise the input before it is implemented.

Last year, the Ministry of Education invited the public to submit suggestions on the new blueprint through the Proposals for the Future of Malaysian Education 2026-2036 portal developed by the ministry.

She said various achievements were recorded in the current education blueprint, including Malaysia achieving near-universal access Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) for primary and lower secondary education in 2020, with GER of 98.2 per cent and 95.3 per cent while the upper secondary level GER was at 88.0 per cent.

On the development of the new curriculum, Fadhlina said it would focus on strengthening the English language while continuing to uphold Bahasa Melayu as the national language, focusing on four key areas: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), as well as expanding preschool education.

"Moving forward, we're going to introduce a new curriculum, and it will involve a 50-50 usage of languages, meaning 50 per cent of Bahasa Melayu and 50 per cent of English... This is very important to expose our children, at an early stage especially, to the value and usage of both Bahasa Melayu and English," she added.

-- BERNAMA