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Why no action for this in school?Pressure mounts on worst-ever education minister Fadhlina to resign
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 13, 2025: Pressure is mounting on Malaysia’s worst-ever performing Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek to resign gracefully.
The Coverage today posted an article listing reasons why she is the worst education minister ever.
It did not list the ridiculous handling of educators who promoted the use of firearms and violence.
No action whatsoever has been reported to have been taken against the educators and Fadhlina has also gone on record defending and supporting the moronic educators.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below The Coverage article:
Fadhlina, Please Resign – Malaysia’s Worst Education Minister Ever
13 August, 2025
Fadhlina Sidek, Malaysia’s Education Minister since December 2022, has faced significant scrutiny during her tenure. While she has introduced initiatives aimed at reforming the education system, critics argue that her leadership has been marred by controversies, missteps, and a failure to address pressing issues effectively. This article examines key criticisms of her performance, including public backlash, policy shortcomings, and the handling of sensitive issues like bullying, while acknowledging her efforts to advance educational reforms.
WhatsApp image re-posted by No News Is Bad News for image illustration
1. Handling of the #JusticeForZara Movement and Bullying Issues
The tragic death of 13-year-old Zara Qairina Mahathir in July 2025, a student found unconscious at her boarding school in Sabah, sparked nationwide protests and the #JusticeForZara movement. Critics have accused Fadhlina of failing to address systemic bullying in schools adequately. While she responded by pledging engagement sessions with stakeholders to clarify bullying guidelines and promising safety audits, a safety reform committee, and stricter disciplinary measures, many argue these measures are reactive rather than proactive. The absence of an initial autopsy in Zara’s case and perceived delays in addressing public demands fueled accusations of a cover-up, further damaging her credibility.
2. Public Perception and Controversial Actions
Fadhlina has faced growing negative sentiment for focusing on what some call “trivial” issues. A viral video from August 10, 2025, showed her encouraging students and teachers to chant “We love PMX” and wish Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim a happy birthday, coinciding with protests over Zara’s death. This was widely criticized as tone-deaf, with former Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli publicly condemning her actions. Critics argue this incident reflects a broader tendency to prioritize optics over substantive policy solutions, further eroding public trust.
3. School Dropout Rates
Fadhlina reported that over 27,000 students dropped out of public schools recently, with 1,496 at the primary level and 25,626 at the secondary level, predominantly Bumiputera students. While she emphasized needs-based interventions like the “Zero Student Drop Out” pilot program, critics argue that these initiatives lack sufficient scale and urgency to address the crisis effectively. The marginal decline in dropout rates from 2020 to 2024 suggests limited progress, raising questions about the ministry’s strategy.
4. Controversies Over Minor Issues
Fadhlina’s ministry has been criticized for missteps that detracted from core educational priorities. For instance, the allocation of RM8.4 million for Jalur Gemilang badges for 5.14 million students was seen by some as an unnecessary expense. Additionally, an incident involving an upside-down Malaysian flag at a Port Dickson school prompted accusations of negligence, with Fadhlina promising “firm action” but facing calls for resignations from figures like former MP Maszlee Malik. These incidents have fueled perceptions of mismanagement.
5. Policy Framework and Political Criticism
Former Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli claimed in June 2025 that the Education Ministry lacked a major policy framework, a charge Fadhlina refuted by stating that all reforms were presented in Cabinet. However, the perception of insufficient progress persists, with critics like PAS MP Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden suggesting alternative candidates for her role. These political tensions highlight challenges in aligning her vision with broader expectations.
6. Malaysia’s Declining PISA Rankings
In the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Malaysia recorded significant declines across all three assessed domains: reading, mathematics, and science. The country scored 388 in reading (down 27 points from 415 in 2018), 409 in mathematics (down 31 points from 440), and 416 in science (down 22 points from 438). These results placed Malaysia among the top five countries globally with the largest score drops, falling below the OECD averages of 476 (reading), 472 (mathematics), and 485 (science). Less than 50% of Malaysian students achieved the minimum Level 2 proficiency in reading, signaling a critical gap in literacy skills. Critics argue that these declines, equivalent to 1.4 years of lost learning in reading and 1.6 years in mathematics, reflect systemic failures in curriculum delivery and teaching quality under Fadhlina’s oversight.
7. World Bank Data on Low Reading Proficiency
According to World Bank reports, Malaysia’s reading proficiency lags behind the average for East Asia and Pacific (EAP) countries and the OECD, though it scores slightly higher than the Southeast Asia (SEA) developing country average by 30 points in reading. The 2022 PISA data underscores this, with only 42% of Malaysian 15-year-olds meeting the minimum reading proficiency level, compared to higher-performing neighbors like Singapore and Vietnam. This persistent “learning poverty” highlights deficiencies in foundational literacy skills, which critics attribute to inadequate policy interventions and a failure to address disparities in educational access, particularly in rural and underprivileged areas.
8. Over 120,000 Standard One Students Lack Basic Skills
A staggering 120,000 Standard One students nationwide—approximately one in four—cannot read, write, or count proficiently, as reported by the Education Ministry. This alarming statistic, acknowledged by Fadhlina in discussions around the 2027 School Curriculum, underscores a crisis in foundational education. The minister has emphasized a return to basic literacy and numeracy skills (3M: reading, writing, counting) to address this “learning poverty,” but critics argue that existing programs lack the scale and urgency needed to tackle such a widespread issue. The Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 aimed for higher benchmarks, yet these figures suggest limited progress under Fadhlina’s leadership.
Pressure grows on Fadhlina to resign as Sabah gripped by Zara protests
Public outrage is also fuelled by a video in which the minister was rousing students and teachers at a school to praise the prime minister
Tens of thousands of people have gathered in recent days for a series of protests to show solidarity with the family of Zara Qairina Mahathir, a 13-year-old student whose death from an apparent fall in her dormitory sparked widespread speculation of a cover-up by authorities, as well as renewed a debate over the government’s failure to tackle bullying in schools.
The protests are also taking place against a backdrop of growing negative public sentiment against Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, who critics accuse of focussing on trivial issues and ignoring a multitude of problems in the education sector.
Social media platforms are meanwhile flooded with memes and posts mocking her, with many saying was not qualified to head the education portfolio, others pointing out that she was appointed by Anwar Ibrahim because of the prime minister’s close friendship with her late father Siddiq Fadzil, who was also his mentor who stood by him during his imprisonment on sodomy and power abuse convictions.
Adding to the public outrage is that even as angry protests over Zara’s death flared up in Sabah’s towns over the weekend, a viral video showed Fadhlina rousing a crowd of teachers and school students to wish the prime minister “Happy Birthday” and chant “We love you PMX”.
On the same day, authorities exhumed Zara’s grave to conduct a post-mortem examination, amid troubling questions over the circumstances surrounding her death, particularly that no autopsy was performed despite the manner of death.
Also on Aug 10, some 1,000 people gathered at Pantai Manis in Papar, Sabah, in a show of solidarity for Zara’s family.
Similar protests were held in Ranau, Sipitang, Kundasang, Telupid and Labuan.
A day earlier, large crowds gathered in Sandakan, Tawau, Semporna and Lahad Datu, while sporadic protests have been gaining momentum in rural areas.
The protests urged authorities to see Zara’s case as a wake-up call to wage an all-out war on bullying in public schools.
During Sunday’s protest in Papar, a student from Universiti Malaysia Sabah warned that the number of bullying incidents had increased in remote areas of the state, where young women are often the victims.
Addressing participants, the student also called for the arrest of the headmaster of the school where Zara was studying.
Zara was a Form One student at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Tun Datu Mustapha, a religious boarding school in Papar.
She was found unconscious near a drain at her school’s dormitory in the early hours of July 16,and was later put on life support at Queen Elizabeth I Hospital before she died a day later.
Although authorities stated she fell from the third floor of her dormitory, questions later arose as to why an autopsy was not performed, as well as a number of other speculations, including the alleged involvement of VIPs.
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