Malaysia’s education investment is not paying off. What’s going wrong?
Data from the Unesco Institute for Statistics shows that from 2011 to 2022, Malaysia allocated an average of 4.6% of its GDP to education, notably higher than Singapore and Japan, which allocated 2.8% and 3.3% respectively during the same period. Despite allocating a higher percentage of its budget to education than Singapore or Japan, Malaysia’s productivity level trails behind both countries. On the other hand, the productivity levels per employee in 2022 were almost three times higher in Japan and almost five times higher in Singapore compared with Malaysia. When education fails to contribute positively to productivity growth, it raises serious concerns about the efficiency and effectiveness of a country’s investment in human capital.
21 February 2025 I Free Malaysia Today
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So how did we get here, and what must change to rebuild the value of a degree?
