ISKANDAR PUTERI: Regent of Johor Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sultan Ibrahim hopes that the federal government will take more proactive steps to improve the country’s education system and quality.

His Royal Highness is of the view that important changes need to be implemented, by renewing the syllabus of the subjects which are currently being used.

“I often emphasise quality education to the Bangsa Johor. Quality education is the foundation of the state’s progress and is important to resolve various issues. Quality education will also open up many job opportunities for the future generation.

“I hope that the federal government takes more proactive steps to improve the quality of the system and the quality of education. An important change that needs to be implemented is to renew the syllabus of no longer relevant subjects,” he said.

His Royal Highness said this in his royal address at the opening of the First Meeting of the Third Term of the 15th State Legislative Assembly here today.

“If it cannot be implemented at the national level, let Johor be the first state to change the syllabus in schools,” he said.

His Royal Highness said that the federal government needs to accept the World Bank Report, regarding the recent performance of Malaysian students.

“If we still cannot accept the fact, as reported in a recent World Bank report on our students’ performance in examinations, then we should not complain if our future generation is less competitive than their peers,” he said.

On April 24, the World Bank Report, titled ‘Bending Bamboo Shoots: Strengthening Foundation Skills’, stated, among other things, that despite large expenditure allocated to the country’s education sector, the level of learning among students is lagging far behind.