KUCHING: Malaysia recorded improved scores in science and reading in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2025, although its mathematics performance declined.
The international assessment, conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), evaluates the knowledge and skills of 15-year-old students in science, reading and mathematics.
The latest results showed Malaysia scoring 419 points in science and 393 in reading, up three and five points respectively from the previous assessment in 2022.
Mathematics, however, dropped by about 11 points from 409 to 397.
Deputy Education, Innovation and Talent Development Minister Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee said the decline in mathematics required serious attention.
In a Facebook post on the latest results, he noted that Malaysia had nevertheless made progress in science and reading.
“Mathematics performance needs serious attention.”
During a press conference on the PISA 2025 results recently, Education Minister Datuk Seri Fadhlina Sidek acknowledged the decline in mathematics as a finding that could not be overlooked.
“At the same time, there is one finding that we cannot and will not hide, which is that our mathematics performance has declined.
“This decline is not something we can view as a change in just one cycle. It should make us look at the problem more seriously, rather than defensively.”
Fadhlina said knowledge alone was insufficient if students were unable to apply what they had learned when confronted with unfamiliar problems.
She said the challenge was therefore to ensure students could translate their knowledge into stronger mathematical proficiency.
This, she said, was being addressed through the Mathematics Education Transformation Plan (RTPM), which places greater emphasis on conceptual understanding, reasoning and problem-solving.
“We do not want mathematics to become a race to find the answer. We want mathematics to train our children to find the way to the answer.”
PISA 2025 involved more than 760,000 students from 91 countries and economies.
In Malaysia, 7,624 students aged 15 from 157 schools and educational institutions took part in the assessment conducted from April 22 to May 30 last year.
