The deputy prime minister and education minister said the study will go beyond the scope of the 1956 Razak Report and encompass Malaysian education in its entirety.
“We will table it to the Cabinet and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. If he agrees that it is high time for us to make a total review, then we’ll do it,” Muhyiddin was quoted as saying by Bernama Online.
Critics of the education system say that standards have regressed over the years, resulting in the churning out of graduates that are unemployable.
The system has also fallen victim to political interests, most notably in the shift towards English in the Teaching of Science and Math in English (PPSMI) in 2003, which was abandoned for a return to Bahasa Melayu under the “Upholding the Malay Language and Strengthening the Command of English” (MBMMBI) policy.
Today, Muhyiddin said there were now growing calls to evaluate the system for efficacy and to modernise its objectives to meet the government’s aim of achieving developed nation status.
He added that while great investments have been made towards improving education in Malaysia, this was often done without taking a holistic approach.
“This (the revamp) is not only to fulfil their (the students’) needs, but for the future development of the nation.
“Many issues were acknowledged in the [Razak Report,] most of them have been implemented, but today’s development requires us to review the direction of our national education for the next 50 or 30 years,” he said.
