SiPKPM AI Early-Warning System — National Dropout Prediction in Malaysia

Malaysia's Ministry of Education (KPM) operates the Sistem Pengesanan Murid KPM (SiPKPM), a national student-tracking platform covering primary and secondary schools. In mid-2024 the ministry strengthened SiPKPM with AI, which screens each student against seven risk indicators — attendance, academic achievement, disciplinary record, disability or learning-support needs, household income, distance from school, and parents' marital status — and sends automatic alerts to teachers, counsellors and district officials.
According to UNICEF Malaysia, which supported the system's development, more than 9,000 students were helped to return to school in 2025 after being flagged, including 3,287 girls. Malaysia's national news agency BERNAMA separately reported that AI-enhanced tracking helped cut the number of SPM (national secondary exam) candidates absent on exam day from the tens of thousands to just over 8,000, and Malay Mail independently confirmed a year-on-year drop in SPM no-shows from 10,160 (2023) to 8,164 (2024).
The system relies on sensitive personal data — including household income, disability status and parental marital status — and no published source describes an independent evaluation, a data-protection impact assessment, or a documented consent framework for families. The figures reported are self-reported by the ministry and its partners rather than independently audited.

Read the full analysis: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2025/02/05/spm-dropout-issue-sees-improvement-as-moe-plans-secondary-education-reforms/165624