KUALA LUMPUR – The government is mulling possibly extending compulsory education from the current six years to 11 years of schooling, as part of the Education (Amendment) Bill.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said this would ensure that every Malaysian youth gets an equal opportunity to develop their potential in secondary schools.
“In order to streamline the bill that is being drafted, MoE (Ministry of Education) took various initiatives, including holding consultations with various stakeholders, such as relevant ministries and government agencies,” the minister said in a written parliamentary reply to a question from Yeo Bee Yin (Puchong-PH).
The draft bill will be tabled in Parliament after being approved by the Cabinet.
On June 14, Deputy Education Minister Lim Hui Ying said it was only mandatory for children to undergo six years of schooling, specifically until Year Six at primary school.
“This is part of the new policies and plans that the ministry plans to roll out over the next few years. It is also an intervention to address the issue of dropouts,” she said in a visit to SMK Seksyen 4 Bandar Kinrara in Puchong, during the Education Ministry’s tour to the Kinrara state constituency in Selangor.
On March 21, the Dewan Negara was informed that the Education Ministry had submitted a draft legislation, proposing to make secondary education compulsory, to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
Fadhlina said the Comprehensive Special Model School K9 and K11 programmes were also being implemented to ensure that children stay in school.
K9 ensures there are no dropouts from Standard 1 until Form 3, while K11 ensures no dropouts from Standard 1 until Form 5.
According to the Section 29A(2) of the Education Act 1996, children must attend primary school for six years. Failure to do so could result in parents being punished with a maximum RM5,000 fine or jail-time maximum of six months, or both. – November 7, 2023