Beyond Borders: What Southeast Asia Can Learn from Malaysia's Inclusive Education Model

Education is the cornerstone of sustainable development. However, in most Southeast Asian countries, the major challenge has been disparities in access and quality. Indonesia, though strongly committed to the SDGs, particularly Goal 4 on quality education, still faces inequalities between regions and social classes. Against this backdrop, neighboring Malaysia presents valuable lessons. The country has indeed made tangible progress in building both an inclusive and sustainability-oriented education system, those are the twin priorities that Indonesia also aspires to reinforce.
One of the progressive policies practised by Malaysia is its Inclusive Education Policy, stressing the integration of students with special needs at mainstream schools. According to the Global Education Monitoring Report by UNESCO in 2020, Malaysia has greatly increased the participation of students with disabilities in regular schools during the last ten years. This progress is driven not only by policy, but also by continuous teacher training programs to equip educators for supporting a variety of learning needs. The underlying purpose is to further the principle of Education for All by making education not only a right but also one of the stepping stones towards the achievement of a socially just society.
Indonesia, in fact, shares that spirit through its Merdeka Belajar or Freedom to Learn policy, promoting flexible learning that caters to students' individual needs. The problem usually lies in implementation, where resource gaps across regions ensure that some students are left behind. According to the World Bank in 2023, a majority of schools in eastern Indonesia still suffer from a lack of qualified teachers for inclusive education. And this is where Malaysia draws a vital lesson: national policies require sustained investments in capacity building among teachers and creating equitable infrastructure.
Beyond inclusion, Malaysia also shows strong commitment to sustainability. Through the Green Schools Program, environmental values like waste management, energy efficiency, and project-based learning become part and parcel of life at school from early childhood. It has managed to promote ecological awareness in both students and teaching staff, according to UNESCO in 2023. Indonesia also has a similar program called Adiwiyata. However, the implementation falls into merely fulfilling administrative indicators and rarely transforms behavior. From Malaysia, Indonesia can learn a lesson that sustainable education is not just a checklist but a continuous process that fosters awareness and social responsibility.
Regional collaboration is another key to accelerating the transformation of education in Southeast Asia. Through the ASEAN Education Ministers Meeting, among other platforms, Malaysia has actively advocated for cross-border collaboration in sharing best practices of inclusive education and digital learning. Indonesia, as the largest country in the region, has enormous potential to become a leading force for collaboration, not only as a recipient of good practices but also as an innovator of policies in education that advance social justice and equality of access.
Malaysia's experience demonstrates that change in education does not occur overnight. Rather, it is a constant commitment from all stakeholders involved, including governments, teachers, and communities alike. The next step for Indonesia is to further strengthen the synergy between national policies and local initiatives. Teachers need to be empowered; not only as implementers of curricula, but also as agents of change within schools and the community. Education can no longer be treated as an administrative project, but it should be treated as a social movement toward an inclusive, intelligent, and sustainable society.
Learning from Malaysia by no means diminishes Indonesia's capabilities. Rather, it is a form of critical reflection serving to refine domestic policies by regional inspiration. As UNESCO underscored in 2020, "No education system can be better than the quality of its teachers." In other words, investing in human capacity is core to sustainable educational development. If Indonesia can embed inclusivity and sustainability at every level of its education system, then quality education for all which is the vision of SDG 4, will no longer be an aspiration so remote but a shared reality we are capable of achieving together.

References
UNESCO (2023). Global Education Monitoring Report: Southeast Asia - Technology in Education: A tool on whose terms?

UNESCO (2020). Global Education Monitoring Report 2020: Inclusion and Education - All Means All.

Ministry of Education Malaysia. Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025.

World Bank. Indonesia Education Overview: The Promise of Education in Indonesia.

Zalizan M. Jelas & Manisah Mohd Ali (2014). Inclusive Education in Malaysia: Policy and Practice. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 18(10), 991-1003. DOI: 10.1080/13603116.2012.693398

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The enterprise is conceived as an academic and research-driven initiative rooted in Universitas Brawijaya's (UB) commitment to innovation, inclusivity, and sustainability. Its primary goal is to integrate education, research, and community engagement into a cohesive framework that addresses local and regional challenges through practical and scalable solutions.
At its core, the enterprise focuses on promoting sustainable development through education, leveraging UB's multidisciplinary expertise in social sciences, engineering, agriculture, economics, and public policy. By connecting academic research with real-world application, the enterprise seeks to strengthen the role of higher education institutions as catalysts for social change, economic empowerment, and environmental stewardship.

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Universitas Brawijaya (UB), located in Malang, East Java, is a leading Indonesian public university renowned for its academic excellence and strong community orientation. Founded in 1963, UB has established a reputation for advancing education that supports national development and global competitiveness.

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