Is the Education Minister, Datuk Seri Mahdzir bin Khalid happy with the results of Malaysian students in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015 made public worldwide yesterday?

The Education Ministry director-general Tan Sri Dr. Khair Mohamad Yusuf seems to be quite ecstatic and easily satisfied with the results of Malaysian students in TIMSS 2015, when the results should be cause for grave concern for all educationists and parents in Malaysia.

In a way, Khair is right in that the TIMSS 2015 results was an improvement on the TIMSS 2011, as Malaysia scored 465 in mathematics and 471 in science, which is a significant improvement from 2011, when it was 440 and 426 respectively, for 14-year-old Form 2 students.

However, this is the second worst score for 14-year-old Malaysian Form 2 students in five TIMSS results since 1995, as shown by the following marks achieved by Malaysian students in the TIMSS series:

While such improvements in math and science in TIMSS 2015 by Malaysian students are most welcome, it still fall short of the attainment of Malaysian Form 2 students in the earlier TIMSS series, especially in 1999 and 2003.

Does the Education Ministry understand what is the problem and has it a got a blueprint to restore the standards of Malaysian students in math and science to the level 16 years ago by the next TIMSS 2019?

The TIMSS 2015 results contain hidden dangers for the government’s goal in the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 for Malaysia to elevate itself into the top third of countries participating in international assessments like Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) AND TIMSS.

The top third of the 39 countries in TIMSS 2015 for mathematics and science for 14-year-olds, with marks out of 1,000, are:

Malaysia with 465 marks is now ranked No. 22 and must out-perform ten other countries in TIMSS 2016 to be in the top one-third of nations participating in the international assessment, namely:

For science, the top one-third of the first-league nations are:

Currently with 471 out of 1,000 marks for science, Malaysia is ranked 24 out of 39 nations assessed. Malaysia will have to beat the following ten countries to rank among the top one-third countries, viz:

Has the Education Ministry a blueprint for Malaysian Form 2 students to beat their counterparts from Hungary to New Zealand in the case of mathematics and from Canada to United Arab Emirates in the case of science in TIMSS 2019, and if so, let the Education Minister make public such a blueprint.

When the TIMSS 2015 results were made public yesterday, there was a collective groan in the West that “US and UK students still lag Asian peers on international math and science exam” – except that US and UK students perform better than Malaysian student in both subjects.

The Education Ministry and his officials in the Education Ministry should ask why every four years, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan should continue to dominate the rankings for TIMSS math and science tests, and when Malaysia is going to break into their ranks to be a powerhouse for math and science in international assessments – or is this a mere pipe-dream as far as Malaysia is concerned?