Education Minister bets own position on better ranking

"I am putting myself at stake because I know we are going to perform better," said Idris Jusoh.

Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the report of assessments like PISA (Programme International Student Assessment) and TIMMS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) showed that the performance of Malaysian students was not up to par.

However, minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said it was "not fair" to continue harping on the PISA and TIMMS results from several years ago, as the standard of education had become better in recent times.

He said that he was willing to put his job on the line to guarantee the performance of Malaysian students in international assessment tests would improve this year.

"People always refer to the 2012 results and say that the education system has declined. But it is not true. That was three years ago. It is not fair."