Can the 13th Malaysia Plan’s Bold Education Reforms Pass the Test of Delivery?

The Malaysian government has put forth some of the boldest education reforms in recent memory. The first two of these reforms were announced as part of the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) 2026–2030, which was tabled by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on 31 July 2025 with the theme of Redesigning Development. According to the plan, preschool will be made mandatory for children at the age of five, with the minimum compulsory duration for preschool being capped at one year. In addition, the starting age for Primary One will be lowered from the current age of seven to six.

The 13MP continues the Malaysian tradition of issuing five-year economic plans to chart the direction and guide the nation’s development, with education as a key contributor in creating an educated and skilled workforce. Whereas previous five-year plans, such as the 11MP and 12MP, had given attention to specific aspects of education, for instance, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and human capital development for the economy, the 13MP stands out as the platform for Anwar’s MADANI government to announce major reforms to preschool and primary school education.  

Additionally, a day before the tabling of the 13MP, the Malaysian Parliament approved an amendment to the Education Act 2025 that extended compulsory education to include five years of secondary education. Thus, with the lowering of the starting age for Primary One and the mandatory five years of secondary education, Malaysia’s compulsory education will effectively increase from six to 12 years, which the 13MP justified as being aligned with international practices. The Education Act, as further explained in the 13MP, will be amended to incorporate the two major education reforms of the 13MP.

While the lowering of the starting age for Primary One may pose an operational challenge when the change is first implemented in that six- and seven-year olds will begin school in the same year, the challenges for implementing compulsory preschool are expected to be far more complex.

In 2024, preschools operated by the Ministry of Education provided access to 46.3 per cent of the preschool population. The remaining children went to preschools operated by other governmental bodies, religious authorities, or the private sector. Without details of how access to preschool will be democratised, including revealing essential information on the development and operational costs involved in providing preschool places to accommodate the expected increase in enrolment, and which ministry or agency will take the lead, it is not clear whether this important policy reform can be successfully put into effect.

Without details of how access to preschool will be democratised … it is not clear whether this important policy reform can be successfully put into effect.

Access to education remains a key feature of the 13MP. It is commendable that the plan has a dedicated focus on children with disability. However, the enrolment targets for such children are puzzling. By 2030, the targets for children with disability are 20 per cent enrolment in preschool, 85 per cent in primary school, 70 per cent in secondary school, and 50 per cent in higher education. The difference between 20 per cent preschool and 85 per cent primary enrolment is a stark one, where there seems to be an assumption that preschool for children with disability need not be compulsory and that they can proceed directly to primary school. The 13MP is silent on this issue.

Understandably, the 13MP has benchmarked the indicators of success in education, similar to the mid-term targets of the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013–2025, which outlined aspirations for Malaysian students’ scores in international standardised tests to be on par with international averages by 2030. However, the 13MP has an additional indicator of success, which is to have 52 per cent of students sitting for the secondary school leaving examination obtaining a minimum of “credit” in four subjects, namely, Malay Language, English Language, History and Mathematics. While this indicator was set out to measure the quality of education, it is crucial to recognise that it could have negative implications, potentially intensifying the phenomenon of grade inflation.

On the governance front, the 13MP announced the establishment of a National Education Council (NEC) to coordinate, monitor and identify interventions with a view to ensuring that Malaysia’s education is progressive and world-class. Despite limited elaboration, the focus of this proposed council is likely to cut across all levels of education. The NEC is likely to supersede the existing National Education Advisory Council (NEAC) prescribed in the Education Act and the now-dormant National Council on Higher Education (more commonly known by the Malay acronym MPTN) that had its own Act of Parliament. The 13MP also announced the establishment of a TVET Commission, which is likely to replace the existing TVET Council that was established through a cabinet paper.

How the two new governing entities, the NEC and the TVET Commission, will coexist alongside the existing ministerial bureaucracy remains to be seen, particularly, whether the governance of education in Malaysia will be strengthened and streamlined or will entail more needless and cumbersome duplication. Crucially, how the two bodies are to be established will indicate the extent of authority and autonomy they will have in the ecosystem.

The 13MP, along with the Education Act 2025, has outlined bold and unprecedented educational reforms. Yet, many of the proposed strategies, projects and programmes are lacking in detail. Nor is it clear which ministry or agency will take the lead. Perhaps, details of these strategies, projects and programmes, including cost and agency in charge, will be articulated as the nation waits for the launch of the next edition of Education and Higher Education Blueprints, which are expected to start in 2026. In the absence of such details, it is not clear whether these education reforms will be met or will remain an unfulfilled aspiration.

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