Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has expressed concern over the fact that Malaysian students do not perform as well as those in developed countries.

He said that 21 percent of Budget 2015 was allocated to education, one of the biggest in the world.

"What has become an issue for us is why  our students' performance still isn't as good as those in developed nations, despite huge funds pumped into the education sector," said Muhyiddin, according to Staronline.

Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, was commenting on the Malaysia's poor performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).

According to the two assessment systems, Malaysia ranked among the bottom third.

Muhyiddin said he was shocked at the findings.

"Let us acknowledge that we have to accept this as a fact," said Muhyiddin, adding that a solution can be found.

Muhyiddin's U-turn

Pisa, a triennial international survey aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15 year old students.    
Meanwhile, the TIMSS assessment provides reliable and timely data on the mathematics and science achievement of the US students compared to students from other countries.

In April 2012, Muhyiddin had proclaimed that Malaysia's education system was among the best in the world, citing a survey by World Economic Forum.

He claimed that the report had found that Malaysian youths are receiving better education than children in United States, Britain and Germany.

However, critics panned Muhyiddin for making such a claim because the survey was conducted based on feedback from 87 local businessmen.