Sarawak ready to collaborate with Federal counterparts to address decline in international test scores

File photo of students seen seated while waiting for the SPM examination to start in this file photo.

KUCHING, Dec 7: Sarawak is willing to complement the efforts of its Federal counterparts, particularly the Ministry of Education (MOE), to address the drop in Malaysian students’ scores in Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) across reading, mathematics and science literacy assessments.

Minister for Education, Innovation and Talent Development (MEITD) Dato Sri Roland Sagah Wee Inn expressed that the recent news of a decline in Malaysia’s performance in Pisa 2022 compared to the score in 2018 was worrying.

“I urge all stakeholders to work with us in addressing this matter. I also urge our Federal counterparts to be open to our input, recommendations and our participation in educational programmes because we have the same objectives,” he said in a statement today.

With a dedicated Ministry of Education in Sarawak, Sagah emphasised that the State government has pumped in billions of ringgit in infrastructure, programmes and activities for education advancement in Sarawak.

“All these efforts and resources would go to waste if concrete and concerted efforts are not put in to address the declining performance.

“Furthermore, our emphasis on the Sarawak Dual Language Programme (DLP) with teaching of Science and Mathematics in English is one of the initiatives in which all parties must must work hand in glove to ensure success,” he elaborated.

With Sarawak’s recent initiative to introduce common assessment at Primary Six, Sagah added that this is also part of the efforts to gauge performance of students so as to enable interventions where deemed necessary.

“To all parents, be very involved in your children’s education. We all need to work together.

“I can assure that the Sarawak government will continue to collaborate, complement and provide the necessary resources to improve the quality of education in the State,” he said.

Yesterday, Education deputy director-general (School Operations) Azman Adnan when announcing the results at the MoE said there was less than 50 per cent of students reaching the minimum level (Level 2) for the reading domain, which is the biggest in Pisa.

In this domain, Malaysia scored 388 which was a drop of 27 from 415 points in 2018.

In mathematics, our 15-year-olds had a score of 409 compared to 440 points, while science also dropped 22 to 416 from 438 points.

He however said that the drop is not unique to Malaysia as most other countries around the world also took a tumble.

In the international context, 13 countries improved, 58 declined and two maintained their Pisa scores.

The OECD scores in Pisa 2022 in reading, mathematics and science were 476 points, 472 points and 485 points respectively.

Administered every three years by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Pisa assesses 15-year-olds in various countries to gauge their readiness for integration into modern society.

The last round was delayed from 2021 to 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. — DayakDaily