Education Ministry to table amendments on compulsory secondary education next month

LANGKAWI: The Education Ministry will table amendments to the Education Act 1996 in Parliament next month to make it compulsory for children to receive education until the age of 17 to overcome the problem of student dropout, says Fadhlina Sidek.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said that the enforcement of the law is one of the measures taken to ensure that every child has the right to quality education up to the completion of secondary school.
"After finalising the compulsory secondary education policy, we will look into the benefits of compulsory preschool education," she told a press conference after the Asean Education Ministers and Higher Education Ministers Roundtable Conference (#EduRoundtables2025) here, Thursday (June 19).
The next Parliament session is scheduled to start from July 21 to Aug 28.
Under the Compulsory Primary Education Policy, every parent of a citizen residing in Malaysia must ensure that their child receives six years of compulsory primary education.
Fadhlina said that the ongoing education reform initiatives include the expansion of preschools, though several challenges remain, particularly in developing the necessary infrastructure, addressing logistics issues, and building the capacity of qualified teachers.
She said that competent and trained teachers are important to providing young children with early exposure and a strong educational foundation at the preschool stage, before they begin formal mainstream schooling, a key step in reducing school dropout rates caused by barriers to early access.
"So, before we implement the policy to make preschool compulsory, we must first prepare the ecosystem, infrastructure and teachers," she said.
Earlier, Fadhlina delivered a welcoming address at the roundtable conference, which aims to strengthen regional cooperation in education, followed by a closed meeting of Asean education ministers.
The conference began on Wednesday (June 18) with a forum themed "Accelerating Innovative Strategies: Mitigating Out-of-School Children and Youth (OOSCY) Challenges", aimed at strengthening collective efforts through information sharing on groups that do not have access to education and are at risk of dropping out, as well as other issues related to dropout.
In addition to the participation of Asean member states, and Timor Leste as an observer, the Asean Education Forum was also joined by representatives from international organisations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (Seameo) and the Islamic World Organisation for Research, Science and Culture (Icesco).
This year, 2025, marks the fifth time Malaysia is holding the Asean chairmanship, following previous terms in 1977, 1997, 2005, and 2015. - Bernama

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Malaysia Sun

10 hours ago

• Malaysia Sun

Piyush Goyal's statement on India ASEAN Trade is unwarranted, says former Union Minister Anand Sharma

ANI 20 Jun 2025, 15:09 GMT+10 New Delhi [India], June 20 (ANI): Former Union Commerce & Industry Minister of India, Anand Sharma, on Friday said in a statement that the statement by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on 'belittling India ASEAN Trade Agreements is unwarranted, ill-advised and unfortunate.' Anand Sharma believes that both India and ASEAN has been together for three decades engaged in a multifaceted relationship which is mutually rewarding and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a regional bloc of ten Southeast Asian countries. Formed in 1967, its primary goals are to foster economic growth, social progress, and cultural development, while also promoting regional peace and further believes that this relationship is important for 'Look East policy to deepen and diversify India's relations with a region that is economically vibrant and of enormous geo-strategic importance for engagement with the Asia-Pacific region.''Piyush Goyal's statement terming the Trade agreement with ASEAN as silly and labelling these counties as B team of China is irresponsible and insulting. He has forgotten, that President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto was the chief guest for 2025 Republic Day Parade,' Anand Sharma said. The former Union Minster in his statement also emphasized that, 'trade in goods with ASEAN counties also includes essential imports: Iron ore and Coal from Indonesia, Palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia, Oil - Petroleum products from Brunei Dares Salam and Malaysia and pulses from Mayanmar.''It needs mention that ASEAN is India's 4th largest trading partner accounting for over 11% of India's total global trade with bilateral trade at 120billion USD and accounts for over 11% of India's Exports. FDI inflows from ASEAN to India account for over 18% of total FDI inflows since 2000,' he further about the Commerce Minister, he also said that, 'Commerce Minister should be prioritising strengthening trade relations with partner countries and not insulting them while bending backwards to negotiate a suboptimal trade agreement with USA on its terms.' (ANI)

The Star

11 hours ago

• The Star

Switzerland lifts economic sanctions on Syria

FILE PHOTO: A Swiss flag hangs at the Swiss Parliament building (Bundeshaus) in Bern, Switzerland, March 12, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File photo ZURICH (Reuters) -Switzerland said on Friday it will lift a raft of economic sanctions imposed on Syria, including the Middle Eastern country's central bank. After the toppling of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, targeted sanctions against individuals and entities linked to the former government will still remain in place, Switzerland's governing Federal Council said. "The aim of this decision is to promote the country's economic recovery and an inclusive and peaceful political transition," the council said in a statement. After an initial easing of sanctions in March, Switzerland is now lifting restrictions on the provision of certain financial services, trade in precious metals and the export of luxury goods, the government said. Some 24 entities including the central bank of Syria have also been removed from the sanctions list, it added. The announcement follows the EU's decision to lift its economic sanctions on Syria at the end of May after a similar move by the U.S. Treasury Department in the same month. (Reporting by Marleen KaesebierEditing by Dave Graham)

The Sun

12 hours ago

• The Sun

Govt Procurement Bill to bolster anti-graft measures

PUTRAJAYA: The Government Procurement Bill, scheduled to be tabled in Parliament this year, is expected to strengthen punitive legal action against parties found guilty of offences related to government procurement. The bill also aims to establish a specific legal framework to regulate the government procurement process, in addition to detailing the powers of stakeholders and enhancing check-and-balance mechanisms to ensure good governance in line with international best practices. The proposal and draft structure of the bill were presented by the Government Procurement Division of the Ministry of Finance, led by its secretary Datuk Norison Ramli, during an engagement session with Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki at the MACC headquarters here today. Norison said the MOF welcomes views and suggestions from the MACC, particularly on enforcement and the application of existing laws under the commission's jurisdiction. Azam expressed his support for the key points of the proposed bill, which he said align with the ongoing National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS). 'NACS is the best platform for the MACC to address weaknesses in the government procurement system, and we fully support this initiative,' he said.