Malaysia will grow its one-roof K11 schools from nine to nineteen, so rural children can stay in one place

For a child in a remote Malaysian village, moving from primary to secondary school can mean a long journey, a boarding house — or quietly dropping out. The K11 Comprehensive School Programme solves it by keeping children under one roof from Year One to Form Five. Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh told parliament that nine schools have run the model since 2023, and the ministry plans to add ten more next year, particularly for rural areas. The first pilots were SMK Long Bedian in Sarawak and SMK Benta in Pahang. The push is part of a wider effort to close gaps: targeted help reached 744 schools and 41,817 students in 2025, and the share of rural exam candidates earning their school certificate rose from 92.31% in 2024 to 92.9% in 2025.

SDG 4 · Quality education — Mechanism: policy reform