This is despite calls for a review following the federal education ministry’s decision to introduce a standardised assessment for Year 4 pupils from this year onwards.

The state education ministry said the DLP assessments were implemented with its federal counterpart’s approval and in line with the Malaysia Agreement 1963, which grants Sarawak the right to educational autonomy.

“This is also necessary to avoid confusion among teachers, students and parents, given that the existing system is already well established and generally accepted by all parties,” it said, according to Borneo Post.

The state ministry also said the DLP had improved the mastery of subjects and language proficiency among students, and was developed after engagement with multiple stakeholders, from government agencies to schools, universities, parents and students.

Some 29,177 Year 6 pupils across 1,050 schools in Sarawak sat for the state’s first-ever DLP assessment in October 2025.

Sarawak’s DLP requires all primary schools in the state to teach science and mathematics in English.

The state government later expanded the programme to secondary schools from 2026, starting with this year’s cohort of Form 1 students.