Curriculum Reform and Implementation Challenges of the Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Menengah (KSSM) in Malaysian Secondary Education: A Mixed Methods Study
Keywords:
curriculum reform, KSSM, Higher Order Thinking Skills, curriculum implementation, Malaysian secondary educationAbstract
This mixed methods study examines the implementation challenges and pedagogical outcomes of the Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Menengah (KSSM) curriculum reform in Malaysian secondary education. Grounded in curriculum implementation theory and standards-based education frameworks, the study employed a sequential explanatory design combining quantitative surveys administered to 412 secondary school teachers across Selangor, Perak, and Johor, with qualitative semi-structured interviews involving 24 participants including teachers, school administrators, and curriculum officers. Findings reveal that teachers' curriculum implementation fidelity was significantly predicted by professional development quality, school leadership support, and perceived curriculum-assessment alignment, while Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) integration emerged as the most pedagogically and administratively challenging KSSM component. Significant disparities in implementation quality were identified between urban and rural schools, moderated by resource availability and teacher workload. The study proposes a differentiated, capacity-building implementation support framework to strengthen KSSM realization across Malaysia's diverse secondary education landscape.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Zulkifli bin Abdul Rahman, Siti Aisyah binti Mohd Yusof (Author)
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