Noor Azimah Rahim, chairman of Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE), said the budget does not provide significant allocations to enhance students’ English proficiency despite Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stressing the importance of the language.
Azimah also questioned the lack of allocation for strengthening the Dual Language Programme (DLP).
Anwar had said in June that there was a greater need to focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects and English proficiency to ensure the competency of the next generation.
“It appears that there isn’t a significant amount of budget allocated to these areas,” Azimah told FMT.
However, she welcomed the government’s initiatives to reduce education costs for lower-income families through the increased allocation of the supplementary food programme and early schooling aid.
Tabling the 2025 budget on Friday, Anwar announced that nearly RM800 million in early schooling aid will be allocated for all 5.2 million students from Year 1 to Form 5, regardless of their parents’ income.
The allocation for the supplementary food programme has also been increased to RM870 million, up RM86 million from this year’s budget. This programme will benefit over 860,000 students next year.
Mak Chee Kin, chairman of Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education (Magpie), lamented that there was no specific allocation for learning English despite Anwar stressing its importance during the tabling of the budget.
Mak said the government must take decisive steps to improve English proficiency among students to complement its direction in training more experts in artificial intelligence (AI).
President of Ikatan Guru Muslim Malaysia (iGuru) Azizee Hasan,said the budget will bridge the gap between rural and urban schools as RM2 billion has been allocated for upgrading and maintaining the infrastructure and digital facilities of schools.
However, he expressed concern that the budget did not outline any special grants aimed at supporting teachers in enhancing their teaching standards.
He said many teachers are using their own money to buy teaching and learning equipment.
Azizee’s comments come after the World Bank had, in April, suggested that Malaysia strengthen its teacher training programmes and implement policies that are considerate towards teachers’ needs.
The education ministry is the biggest recipient under the 2025 budget, with an allocation of RM64.1 billion.