KUCHING: Malaysian students generally value school and show strong willingness to persevere and seek help in learning, but fewer believe intelligence can be developed, according to PISA 2025.
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) found only 37 per cent of Malaysian students displayed a growth mindset, compared with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 69 per cent.
Growth mindset refers to the belief that intelligence and abilities can be developed through effort, learning and feedback.
The finding contrasted with several other indicators which showed Malaysian students having relatively positive attitudes towards school and learning.
Some 80 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that they were curious about many different things, higher than the OECD average of 73 per cent.
Another 79 per cent said they put in additional effort when their work became challenging, compared with 60 per cent across OECD countries.
Both indicators also improved from PISA 2022, with curiosity increasing by eight percentage points and the proportion putting in additional effort rising by 8.2 percentage points.
Students also appeared to place considerable value on attending school.
Only seven per cent agreed or strongly agreed that school had been a waste of time, well below the OECD average of 24 per cent.
The figure also declined by 13.2 percentage points from 2022.
PISA 2025 further found that 46 per cent of Malaysian students often or very often planned their approach to studying, compared with the OECD average of 37 per cent.
Another 52 per cent said they asked themselves questions about learning materials to check whether they had fully understood them, slightly above the OECD average of 49 per cent.
Malaysian students were also more likely to seek help when encountering difficulties.
Some 92 per cent said they asked teachers for help when needed, compared with the OECD average of 77 per cent.
Another 94 per cent sought help from classmates when they did not fully understand something, against the OECD average of 82 per cent.
The assessment also showed a link between students’ attitudes towards learning and their performance in science.
After accounting for the socio-economic profiles of students and schools, a one-unit increase in the curiosity index in Malaysia was associated with a 20-point difference in science performance.
A similar increase in perseverance was associated with a 13-point difference.
Students who placed greater value on school also scored 54 points higher in science than those who felt school was a waste of time.
Meanwhile, Malaysian students generally reported receiving strong support from teachers during science lessons.
Some 80 per cent said teachers showed an interest in every student’s learning in most science lessons, compared with the OECD average of 69 per cent.
Another 87 per cent said teachers continued teaching until students understood, while 86 per cent said teachers provided additional help when needed.
However, the findings also pointed to some classroom discipline issues.
About 21 per cent of Malaysian students reported noise and disorder in every or most science lessons, while 15 per cent said their classmates did not listen to what teachers said.
Another 13 per cent said they were unable to work well in most or all science lessons.
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.
