Arya News - Education Minister Datuk Seri Fadhlina Sidek said while Malaysia made progress in Reading and Science Literacy in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) 2025, they will be buckling down for Mathematics.
KUALA LUMPUR – Mathematics is an area the Education Ministry said it will be doing “some serious work” on.
Education Minister Datuk Seri Fadhlina Sidek said while Malaysia made progress in Reading and Science Literacy in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) 2025, they will be buckling down for Mathematics.
“Pisa gave us plenty to think about this year. Some of the findings were encouraging and some were not,” she said during the ACCA Educator Excellence and Appreciation Ceremony 2026 on Monday (Sept 21).
The latest Pisa results, released on Sept 8, saw Malaysia’s students improve by three points for Science to 419 while Reading improved by five points to 393 compared to Pisa 2022. However, Mathematics declined by 11 points to 397.
Fadhlina added that while there is no point pretending the problem does not exist, there is equally little value in reducing an entire education system, or an entire generation of children, to one number.
On another matter, Fadhlina said a teacher’s lifelong learning journey will ultimately benefit their students. She said these teachers will take what they have learnt in their pursuit of their qualification back to the classroom.
“That is where the real return on this investment begins,” she told the teachers present during the ceremony.
“I imagine it was not always convenient. You still had classes to teach, papers to mark, meetings to attend and families to get home to, yet somewhere in between all of that, you found the time and discipline to become students again,” she added.
The event saw 156 educators who pursued the ACCA Diploma in Financial and Management Accounting (RQF Level 2) receive their certificates of completion in recognition of their commitment to continuous professional development and strengthening accountancy and financial literacy education.
As part of the initiative, this first batch of educators will also serve as ACCA educator ambassadors, helping to raise awareness of accountancy among students and encouraging them to explore further education and career opportunities in accounting, finance and business.
During the event, ACCA chief executive Helen Brand said educators are essential partners in their mission to advance financial literacy. She added that teachers are meant to inspire their students and to show them a path towards a career where they can make a real difference in the world as well as a good living.
Ultimately, she said, ACCA targets to support the professional development of around 1,000 Accounting Principles educators nationwide.
The collaboration between ACCA and the Education Ministry, particularly the Teacher Professionalism Division, reflects a shared commitment to strengthening educator development, financial literacy and lifelong learning.
By bringing together the education system and the professional accountancy community, the initiative aims to expand students’ exposure to quality accountancy and financial literacy education across Malaysia.