PUTRAJAYA: The learning loss caused by the Covid-19 pandemic is one of the main reasons for Malaysia's lower scores in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).
Acting Education director-general Azman Adnan said the pandemic period from 2020 to 2022 had disrupted the education system both in the country and abroad as schools were forced to close following the Movement Control Order (MCO) and home-based teaching and learning method (PdPR) were initiated.
As such, he said, the country's performance in the PISA 2022 assessment saw a decrease in all three domains namely Science, Mathematics and Reading literacies.
"Based on results released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Malaysia scored 409 (440 in PISA 2018) in Mathematics, 416 (438 in PISA 2018) in Science and 388 (415 in PISA 2018) in Reading literacy for PISA 2022.
"Based on the results, students in Malaysia had scored lower than the average OECD score for all three domains," he said during the official announcement of Malaysia's achievement in PISA 2022 at the Education Ministry, here.
However, Azman said the decrease in the three domains was also seen throughout the 81 OECD countries that had participated in PISA 2022.
"For the Mathematics domain, 58 out of the 81 countries that participated in PISA 2022 saw a decline in their scores. Among them were the US, Estonia, Finland, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and France.
"In the Science domain, 36 other countries also showed a decline in their scores. Some of these countries were the US, Finland, Germany, Canada, France, the United Kingdom and Thailand.
"As for Reading, 55 countries saw a drop in their scores. Among these countries were, the US, Australia, Indonesia, Ireland, Germany, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom and France," he said.
Azman added that despite the country's decline in PISA 2022, based on a survey of 7,069 out of 390,400 students aged 15 and over in 199 schools (across all types of schools), showed positive feedback in their learning experiences at home.
He said that Malaysian students had scored a higher average against OECD in the ability to use digital devices for learning, the ability to contact teachers for support, teachers' readiness to conduct remote teaching and the students' motivation to learn from home.
"72.9 per cent (63 per cent OECD average) were recorded in the ability to use digital devices for learning, 67.8 per cent (68 per cent OECD average) the ability to contact teachers for support, 66.4 per cent (50.7 per cent OECD average) in teachers' readiness to conduct remote teaching and 58.4 per cent (38.5 per cent OECD average) in the student's motivation to learn from home.
"Students also reported that the school's efforts in supporting their learning and well-being are high," he said.
Moving forward to ensure the improvement of future PISA scores, Azman also said that the Education Ministry would hold several series of discussions and engagements with stakeholders and strategic partners to refine the findings of this PISA report.
"This is so that we can use it as a basis to improve the quality of Malaysian education as a whole.
"We will also hold an engagement session with agencies inside and outside the ministry about Malaysia's participation in the international benchmarking study to provide awareness of the importance as well as the impact of Malaysia's achievements in the PISA assessment."
The PISA, administered by the OECD, is a triennial survey of 15-year-old students that assesses the extent to which they have acquired key knowledge and skills essential for full participation in society.
The assessment focuses on proficiency in reading, mathematics, science as well as on students' well-being.