The Education Ministry aims to cut the urban-rural SPM achievement gap by another 50% by 2035 under the new Malaysia Education Plan.
PETALING JAYA: The Education Ministry is targeting a further 50% reduction in the achievement gap between urban and rural pupils by 2035 after narrowing the disparity in the 2024 SPM results by 26.23%.
Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said the reduction, measured using the average SPM grade according to locality, was achieved under the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025.
Under the new Malaysia Education Plan 2026-2035, the ministry is also targeting a 70% reduction in achievement gaps linked to gender and socioeconomic status.
“From the equity aspect, we achieved a 26.23% reduction in the achievement gap based on the 2024 SPM average grade according to locality, namely between urban and rural areas,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
The ministry also recorded a 52.78% reduction in the gender gap among pupils qualifying for an SPM certificate and a 57.75% reduction based on socioeconomic status.
Wong was replying to Kamal Ashaari (PN-Kuala Krau), who said socioeconomic background remained a major predictor of students’ performance despite progress in narrowing disparities.
Kamal cited the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which showed that pupils from higher socioeconomic groups recorded an average Mathematics score of 458, compared with 375 among those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
Wong said the new education plan would place greater emphasis on ensuring fair access to quality education, infrastructure and digital resources across urban and rural schools.
“We will ensure that the available resources are distributed fairly and equitably to all schools, whether they are in urban or rural areas,” he said.
Schools with dilapidated buildings would also be prioritised according to their respective needs.
Wong said the plan was “not merely a continuation” of the previous blueprint, but a strategic intervention to ensure the education system remained relevant.
It introduces flexibility and sustainability as two new policy focuses, supported by seven strategic pillars and 49 high-impact initiatives.
The plan also targets at least a C grade in Bahasa Melayu, English, Mathematics and History, bilingual proficiency, and at least an intermediate level of digital competency among pupils.
On teachers’ workload, Wong said seven measures had been implemented since 2023.
“From time to time, we take different approaches to eliminate certain recording requirements which we feel amount to a repetition of work,” he said.
