Latar belakang sosioekonomi keluarga ‘pengaruh besar’ terhadap Pisa, kata PAGE

Pengerusi Kumpulan Ibu Bapa Bertindak Untuk Pendidikan (PAGE), Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, has revealed that socio-economic background of a student's family plays a significant role in their Pisa results, according to a recent audio interview with Khairy Jamaluddin. PAGE president highlighted an 82-point gap in mathematics scores between students from the top 25% socio-economic background and those from the bottom 25%, equivalent to nearly three years of schooling.

This issue of social mobility demonstrates that family background still has a strong influence on student achievement, she said during the 'Keluar Sekejap' radio segment. Schools should be places that minimize the academic disadvantages that students bring from home, rather than places where those gaps become more pronounced. Interventions should therefore focus more on the students and schools that need the most support, rather than a uniform approach for all.

Noor Azimah also addressed the widening gap in mathematics scores between urban and rural schools, where many students come from lower-income families. She stated that the 82-point mathematics score gap shows a significant difference between urban and rural schools, which is concerning. PAGE, along with Khairy Jamaluddin, believe that education issues cannot be solved by solely reforming the curriculum.

Instead, they attribute the root causes of unequal learning outcomes to factors within the classroom, including teachers' workload, administrative tasks, and the quality of teacher-student interaction. Malaysia's 2025 Pisa mathematics score improved by three points to 419, reading skills increased by five points to 393, while mathematics declined by 11 points to 397, continuing the downward trend observed in 2018 and 2022.

The test, conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is a three-yearly assessment of 15-year-old students to measure their mastery of core knowledge and skills necessary for full participation in society. Only 35% of Malaysian students reach the basic proficiency level in mathematics, meaning almost two-thirds cannot effectively apply basic mathematical concepts to solve real-world problems.

Khairy also pointed out a paradox in the 2025 Pisa results: despite a declining mathematics score, Malaysian students perform better than expected in problem-solving aspects. Notably, 82.6% of Malaysian students scored higher than expected and are among the top six countries in Pisa. This suggests that our children have the potential to adapt and solve problems in different learning contexts.

The question remains: why isn't this ability translating into basic mathematics proficiency? Once again, we may need to examine how we teach, not just what we teach.