Bersama calls for independent panel to review Malaysia’s education policies

Malaysia's education policies require an independent review to understand why increased spending has not led to improved student outcomes, according to Bersama. Policy spokesman Sum Dek Joe made this call following the release of the 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) results, which showed a decline in Malaysian students' performance in mathematics, reading, and science compared to the 2018 levels.

The mathematics score dropped from 440 points to 397, reading from 415 to 393, and science from 438 to 419. Sum believes an independent panel, composed of education researchers, assessment experts, experienced teachers, and public finance specialists, should be established to scrutinize the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013–2025.

The panel should be granted access to education ministry data to identify successful and unsuccessful policies and determine why learning targets have not been met. The panel's findings and recommendations should be presented to Parliament within six months, accompanied by interim learning targets, implementation responsibilities, and funding requirements.

Annual progress reports should then be submitted to Parliament to ensure proper monitoring of the reforms. Sum emphasized that Malaysia's children cannot tolerate unfulfilled promises.