# Ministry of Education Malaysia (KPM): What It Governs and How It's Run

> The Ministry of Education (Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, KPM) is the federal ministry that runs Malaysia's pre-tertiary education system — preschool, primary, secondary and matriculation — under the Education Act 1996, and holds the largest allocation in the federal budget.

- Category: government
- Language: en
- Status: published
- Updated: 2026-08-14
- Canonical: https://negaraku.md/en/government/ministry-of-education-moe

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If it concerns a Malaysian schoolchild — the curriculum they study, the textbook on their desk, the national exam they sit, or the public-school teacher at the front of the class — it sits with the Ministry of Education. Known in Malay as **Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia** and almost always shortened to **KPM**, it is the federal ministry that runs the country's pre-tertiary education system. What it does *not* run is the universities — a boundary that trips up a great many people.

## What does KPM govern?

KPM is responsible for the national education system and, specifically, for **pre-tertiary education**: preschool, primary, secondary and post-secondary (matriculation) schooling. Its remit spans compulsory education, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), curriculum standards, textbooks, standardised tests, language policy, and the selective and comprehensive schools that make up the system.

The ministry's stated vision is *Pendidikan Berkualiti, Insan Terdidik, Negara Sejahtera* — Quality Education, Educated Individuals, Prosperous Nation — and its mission is to sustain a quality education system that develops individual potential to fulfil national aspirations.

## What law does it operate under?

The **Education Act 1996 (Act 550)** is the principal federal legislation governing Malaysia's national education system. It received Royal Assent on 15 July 1996.

The Act is not just an abstract charter — it reaches individual families. Under **Section 29A**, the Minister may prescribe primary education as compulsory, requiring Malaysian-citizen parents to enrol a child who has turned six by 1 January of the school year. A parent who contravenes this commits an offence punishable by a fine not exceeding RM5,000, imprisonment of up to six months, or both.

Guiding policy sits alongside the statute. The **Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025** (Pelan Pembangunan Pendidikan Malaysia, PPPM) maps out the transformation of the pre-tertiary system through five system aspirations, six student aspirations and 11 strategic and operational shifts. It was developed over 15 months, from October 2011 to December 2012, with input from UNESCO, the World Bank, the OECD and local universities.

## How is KPM different from the Ministry of Higher Education?

This is the single most common point of confusion. KPM handles schools; the separate **Ministry of Higher Education** handles universities.

The two have changed shape repeatedly. Higher-education functions were split off into a distinct Ministry of Higher Education on 27 March 2004, merged back into a single ministry on 15 May 2013, then split apart once more in 2015. They remain separate today — so a question about a public university or a degree programme is a higher-education matter, not a KPM one.

## Who runs it, and how big is it?

The ministry was formed in **1955** and is headquartered at Block E8, Parcel E (Complex E), Federal Government Administrative Centre, 62604 Putrajaya.

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Minister | Fadhlina Sidek (in office since December 2022) |
| Deputy Minister | Wong Kah Woh |
| Formed | 1955 |
| Headquarters | Block E8, Parcel E, Putrajaya |
| Website | `moe.gov.my` |

KPM is the biggest line item in the federal budget. Under **Budget 2026**, it received the largest allocation of any federal ministry — **RM66.2 billion**, up from RM64.2 billion in 2025. That included nearly RM2 billion to upgrade more than 520 dilapidated schools, particularly in Sabah and Sarawak, and to build 38 new schools nationwide.

A network of agencies and bodies sits under the ministry, including the Institute of Language and Literature (Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka), the Malaysian Examinations Council (Majlis Peperiksaan Malaysia), and 14 State Education Departments (Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri).

## What's next

For the ministry's own rulebook, start with the Education Act 1996 (Act 550). To find a registered school, the public can search educational institutions through the malaysia.gov.my digital-services directory. For anything current — circulars, the school calendar, or the sitting Minister — the authoritative source is the ministry's official portal at `moe.gov.my`.

## Sources

- Ministry of Education (Malaysia) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Education_(Malaysia) (Wikipedia)
- Minister of Education (Malaysia) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minister_of_Education_(Malaysia) (Wikipedia)
- MOE — Vision and Mission — https://www.moe.gov.my/?id=1&lang=en (Ministry of Education Malaysia)
- Education Act 1996 (Act 550), Laws of Malaysia — https://www.unesco.org/en/right-education/observatory/education-act-1996 (UNESCO)
- Education Act 1996 (Act 550) — Laws of Malaysia Reprint — https://www.unesco.org/education/edurights/media/docs/86f152c6bff6581e5b8d9caee77a3c4921703faa.pdf (UNESCO / Government of Malaysia)
- Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 (Executive Summary) — http://appswpkl.moe.gov.my/download/phocadownload/sektor/spm/upm/malaysiaeducationblueprint.pdf (Ministry of Education Malaysia)
- Budget 2026: Education Ministry receives largest allocation of RM66.2bil — https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2025/10/10/budget-2026-education-ministry-receives-largest-allocation-of-rm642bil (The Star)
- Education ministry gets RM66.2bil allocation in Budget 2026 — https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/10/10/education-ministry-gets-rm66-2bil-allocation-in-budget-2026 (Free Malaysia Today)
- Search for Educational Institutions of the Ministry of Education — https://www.malaysia.gov.my/en/digital-services/search-for-educational-institutions-of-the-ministry-of-education (Government of Malaysia (MyGov))

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