Malaysia’s latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results should not be interpreted as either a wholesale failure of the education system or proof that its fundamentals are already strong, the Akademi Profesor Malaysia (APM) said.
Commenting on the PISA 2025 results released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Sept 8, APM said Malaysian students demonstrated considerable reasoning and problem-solving potential, but this had yet to translate consistently into stronger mastery of mathematics and science.
The academy identified mathematics as the most concerning area, with Malaysia’s score falling to 397 in PISA 2025 from 409 in 2022. Science and reading performance, meanwhile, showed no significant change.
At the same time, Malaysian students scored 484 in computational problem-solving, while 82.6% performed better in the domain than would have been expected based on their science results.
APM said this indicated that Malaysian students possess reasoning and problem-solving capabilities that could be better leveraged in classroom learning.
The academy said findings from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2023 reinforced concerns over students’ basic competencies.
Malaysia recorded a mathematics score of 411 in TIMSS 2023, with 48% of students falling below the lowest international benchmark and only around 1% reaching the advanced benchmark.
Teachers also reported weaknesses in students’ basic mathematical knowledge and skills.
“Read together with PISA, the message is clear: the country’s challenge is not merely the ability to reason at a higher level, but also mastery of the basic knowledge that is a prerequisite for application, higher-order thinking skills, creativity and STEM,” APM said.
APM acknowledged progress made under the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013–2025, including improvements in access to education and the narrowing of some achievement gaps.
However, it cautioned that a smaller gap did not necessarily mean that achievement levels across all groups were already high.
PISA 2025 continued to show a substantial socioeconomic divide, with an 82-point gap in science performance between students from the highest and lowest socioeconomic groups, according to the academy.
APM said this reinforced the need for reforms that improve both overall achievement and educational equity.
The academy proposed four areas of focus for the next phase of education policy.
First, it called for stronger foundations in mathematics and science, including a review of the depth and sequencing of the curriculum from primary school through lower secondary education.
Second, PISA and TIMSS data should be used diagnostically to identify misconceptions, common errors and specific learning weaknesses rather than primarily as material for examination drilling.
Third, APM called for stronger teacher professionalism and support, particularly in content pedagogy, identifying student misconceptions, designing questions that stimulate reasoning and using students’ work as evidence of learning progress.
It also stressed the importance of policy continuity and evidence-based evaluation, arguing that success should be measured through stronger conceptual understanding, reasoning ability, student confidence and narrower achievement gaps rather than the number of programmes or training sessions conducted.
APM said the ultimate objective should not simply be to raise Malaysia’s position in PISA or TIMSS rankings.
Instead, the education system should ensure that students, regardless of background, acquire strong knowledge, learn to reason scientifically and are able to apply what they learn to real-world situations.
“Strengthening mathematics and science is an issue of national capacity,” APM said.
The academy added that it was prepared to contribute academic expertise and evidence-based analysis to support efforts to strengthen Malaysia’s education system, while respecting the Ministry of Education’s policymaking mandate.
