RPM should turn our youths’ green intentions to action

By Azizi Abu Bakar

Green education in Malaysia has often been framed as an ethical aspiration nurturing environmental awareness, values, and responsibility among the young. In an earlier reflection, I argued that it should also shape the inner compass of youth as the future generation, cultivating purpose alongside knowledge. As Malaysia embarks on the implementation of the Malaysian Education Blueprint (RPM) 2026-2035 (a jointly led plan by the Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Education), it has set a platform that must now further evolve: from intention to systemic policy action that builds competencies across the entire education system.

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022, a global study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), provides an important baseline. Malaysian 15-year-olds recorded average scores of 409 in mathematics, 388 in reading, and 416 in science, all below OECD averages (472 – 485 points). Only 41% achieved minimum proficiency in mathematics, compared to 69% across OECD countries, while just 1% reached top performance levels. Socio-economic background continues to shape outcomes, accounting for 18% of performance variation, and 62% of students experienced prolonged school closures during the COVID-19 period.

These figures should not be read as a verdict but as a policy signal. With PISA 2025 results expected toward the end of 2026, Malaysia has a critical window to recalibrate how learning outcomes are produced, not only by raising performance but by strengthening the competencies needed for a digital and green future.

Insights from the OECD Education Spotlight 2024 on building competencies for digital and green innovation highlight that education systems must move beyond reactive curriculum updates and instead anticipate future skill needs. For Malaysia, this begins with more coherent skills intelligence. While labour-market data, graduate outcomes, and industry feedback already exist, they remain fragmented across agencies and institutions. A national, multidimensional framework integrating schools, higher education, TVET, and industry would allow policymakers to better identify emerging green and digital competencies and address gaps before they widen.

Advances in data analytics, including machine learning approaches to analysing job postings and curriculum content, offer additional tools to complement traditional planning. When governed carefully and supported by high-quality data, such approaches can help align what is taught with what innovation ecosystems increasingly require. At the same time, greater attention is needed on assessing transversal competencies—problem-solving, collaboration, creativity, and systems thinking—which are critical to innovation but often underrepresented in formal assessments.

Curriculum responsiveness is the next policy lever. Malaysian universities and TVET institutions already demonstrate pockets of innovation, particularly in sustainability-related fields, applied technologies, and interdisciplinary programs. However, these efforts are uneven. Regular curriculum review should be embedded as a system expectation, supported by incentives that enable educators to align teaching with evolving knowledge frontiers. Teaching excellence frameworks, structured opportunities for pedagogical innovation, and targeted funding for interdisciplinary collaboration can help ensure curriculum renewal becomes institutional practice rather than individual initiative.

Engaging learners meaningfully must also be recognised as a system-level concern. Evidence shows that competencies for green and digital innovation are best developed through applied, interdisciplinary, and experiential learning. In the Malaysian context, initiatives such as apprenticeship-style programmes, challenge-based learning (like industry-led hackathons), and campus Living Labs already illustrate how students can learn through real sustainability problems—energy efficiency, waste management, mobility, and community resilience. When campuses function as living laboratories, learning becomes tangible, relevant, and motivating, particularly for learners who struggle to connect abstract concepts with real-world application and outcomes.

Industry engagement further strengthens this ecosystem when governed strategically. Dual education models, industrial postgraduate pathways, and industry-sponsored innovation challenges allow learners to operate at the intersection of theory and practice. From a policy perspective, the challenge is to ensure these collaborations are mutually beneficial, balancing short-term industry needs with higher education’s broader public mission and long-term national goals.

Ultimately, the effectiveness of green education policy depends on coherence across the education continuum. Schools play a foundational role in cultivating curiosity, scientific literacy, and positive attitudes toward sustainability and technology. Higher education and TVET build on this foundation by deepening technical, digital, and transversal competencies. When these stages operate in silos, gaps emerge; when they are aligned, learning pathways become cumulative and resilient.

The National Education Blueprint (RPM) 2026–2035 offers a timely opportunity to strengthen this alignment. Its success will depend less on the ambition of its vision than on the consistency of its implementation across ministries, institutions, and levels of education. Green education, in this context, should not be treated as an elective theme or moral add-on, but as a core competency strategy shaping how Malaysia prepares learners for technological disruption, environmental risk, and social complexity.

The deeper measure lies in whether the education system—from schools to universities and TVET institutions—succeeds in cultivating learners who are capable, adaptable, and ethically grounded. Moving from green intentions to systemic action is not merely desirable; it is essential for building an education system fit for Malaysia’s digital and green future.