A TOTAL of 1,254 students in Perak have been identified as being at risk of dropping out of school this year, according to the State Executive Councillor for Education, Higher Education, Youth and Sports, Khairudin Abu Hanipah.
The figure includes 231 pupils from primary schools and 1,023 students from secondary schools, who were flagged due to issues such as irregular attendance, disciplinary problems, and academic underperformance.
"A total of 743 students have already dropped out of school, and only 133 have returned so far," Khairudin told the Perak State Legislative Assembly in response to a question from Mohamad Amin Roslan (PN – Pengkalan Hulu) on Wednesday.
He noted that lack of interest in schooling was the leading factor, accounting for 334 cases, followed by expulsions (230 cases) and students entering the workforce (86 cases).
“To tackle this issue, the Perak State Education Department (JPN) has implemented several programmes, including the Red Flag Risiko Cicir (RFRC), which detects at-risk students early so timely intervention can be made,” he said.
According to Khairudin, the RFRC programme has had a positive impact on attendance rates, with overall student attendance in Perak rising from 90.22 percent in 2023 to 91.29 percent in 2024, and reaching 92.69 percent by the end of August 2025.
He added that performance-focused dialogue sessions between the JPN and District Education Offices (PPD), as well as between JPN and individual schools, are regularly conducted to further improve school attendance and retention.
To boost student engagement and interest in learning, Khairudin said that the state has introduced initiatives in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), aimed at providing career guidance and alternatives for students less inclined towards academic pathways.
“This programme provides information about TVET institutions in Perak, enabling students who have dropped out or are academically disinterested to enrol directly into vocational training,” he said.
In addition, the state has launched Propulih 2.0 under the Perak Sejahtera 2025 initiative, aimed at improving literacy levels and reducing academic dropout rates among students.
“For students with weak literacy skills from Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina (SJKC) and Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil (SJKT), the earlier Propulih 1.0 programme, introduced last year, focused on transition learning at the secondary school level,” he added. - September 10, 2025
