Many countries are seeking to improve their education systems to compete more effectively in what is increasingly a knowledge-based economy. Globalisation means that governments are well aware of how other economies and education systems are progressing. Governments may wish to emulate what appears to have succeeded in other countries despite the well-established view that the effectiveness of such ‘policy-borrowing’ is limited by contextual and cultural differences. The Malaysia Education Blueprint (Ministry of Education, 2013) provides an Asian example of an ambitious reform plan.

The effective implementation of policy intentions is critical if such bold aspirations are to be achieved. However, there is evidence in Malaysia (Bush et al 2018), and in Thailand (Hallinger and Lee 2014) that reform initiatives may falter because school-level implementation is flawed.

This policy brief relates to a study on the implementation of educational policy reform in Malaysia.

About this Policy Brief

This policy brief was written by Professor Tony Bush, Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Nottingham, with Dr Ashley Ng Yoon Mooi, Dr Wei Keong Too, and Josephine Chay at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, Dr Derek Glover at the University of Nottingham, UK, and Dr Lei Mee Thien, at Universiti Sains Malaysia. This document has arisen from a research study on the implementation of educational policy reform in Malaysia led by Prof Tony Bush and funded by The HEAD Foundation.