Education Performance and Delivery Unit (Padu) CEO Khadijah Abdullah said things were moving well and people were positive about the initiatives set out in the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025.
However, she said the speed at which the initiatives are being implemented remains a challenge.
“We want things to move faster. Things are not moving as fast as we would like (them) to, but they are moving,” she said in an interview with The Edge Financial Daily.
Adding that developing world-class education was not something that could happen overnight, she said the efficiency of manpower and costs of running projects must be taken into consideration.
Khadijah said unlike many failed transformation programmes, Padu’s journey had seen a gradual upward momentum.
Padu was set up in 2013 to facilitate, support and deliver initiatives set out in the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025. The unit comprises the best of talents from both the civil and private sectors.
Various initiatives have been planned over three waves, which will see the transition of the education system to adopt 21st century learning. It also aims to bring Malaysia’s education to the top one-third of countries participating in the Programme for International Student Assessment by 2025.
“Our role is to help the ministry achieve all that it’s planned. So far, things are moving well. People are very positive.
“In the first wave, we achieved 87% of what we planned. That was audited by an external party. So we have about 13% that we have to spill over for the second wave, but we can manage,” Khadijah said in the interview.
The World Bank, in its report titled “Improving Education Sector Performance: Lessons from the Delivery Unit Approach”, examined how Padu facilitated programme implementation and delivery of results through the Literacy and Numeracy Screening (Linus) programme.
Linus is a key initiative in the blueprint aimed at improving the literacy and numeracy of pupils in their first three years.
“Unlike other interventions, the Linus task force – comprising several divisions – worked closely with agencies across the government to provide an effective framework for coordination, tracking, monitoring and reporting,” the World Bank said, adding that the approach could be useful for other developing countries.
According to Padu’s 2016 annual report, 98.6% of Year Three students achieved the Bahasa Malaysia literacy target, 99% in English language literacy and 94.7% in numeracy.
Another initiative in the blueprint showing good progress is science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
“STEM has had a stuttering start. Things were not easily understood by the stakeholders. But I’m pleased to say that since the middle of last year, we have already set the direction clearly – we know what to do and support from external parties has been good.
“We even have other governmental bodies who now say they want to come together and collaborate. It helps that STEM was made a national agenda,” The Edge Financial Daily quoted Padu executive director Azwan Abdul Aziz as saying.
Khadijah admitted there was room for improvement but said that was what the blueprint was about.
“We are trying to improve the whole ecosystem, but it will take time.
“We have over 10,000 schools of diverse background which comes with its challenges. As a delivery unit we can’t compromise but must tread carefully. All of these processes take time, you can’t just get it done within three to five years,” she said.
She added that it was unfair to make comparisons with countries such as Singapore and Finland as each country differed in its demographics.