Prof Dr Maszlee Malik short bio Prof Dr. Maszlee bin Malik is a Malaysian politician who served as the Minister of Education in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from May 2018 to his resignation in January 2020. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Simpang Renggam since May 2018 until November 2022. He was a member of Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU) from March 2018 to his membership termination in May 2020 and became an independent MP until November 2021. In 27 November 2021 he joined Parti Keadilan Rakyat. He was elected with the highest votes to the Parti Keadilan Rakyat Central Leadership Council (Majlis Perwakilan Pusat/ MPP) in August 2022. However, he lost in the Malaysian 15th General election in November 2022, and decided to return to the academia world by joining University of Cyberjaya (UoC) as a Professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Social Sciences in March 2023. Prior to his political life, Maszlee taught at the International Islamic University Malaysia from 2000 to 2018. He was also actively involved in volunteering works. He was the advisor of few NGOs for children with special needs. Maszlee believes that education should be inclusive and empowering. As a minister, Maszlee introduced student-oriented system to primary schools to replace a formerly exam-oriented structure. He had also made reforms to mitigate teacher's clerical burden, empowered technical and vocational education on the tertiary level and amended restrictive law which had previously suppressed students’ freedom of speech in universities and colleges.His time in academia did not encase him in the proverbial academic ivory tower, exemplified through his commitment to helping students remain globally competitive in an era of vast technological change and globalization. Recognizing that vocational education is essential in transforming Malaysia from a nation of consumers to a nation of producers, he formed a national steering committee to expand TVET collaborations with industry stakeholders alongside increasing access to polytechnics and community colleges. Maszlee was also known of his promotion of STEM education and in in calculating AI, Big Data and Data analysis in education through the formation of Big data committee at The Ministry of Education during his term. He was also known of his bold decision to use Google Classroom (GC) as the sole Learning Management System for all schools throughout the nation. This decision has saved the learning process of Malaysian students during the MCO (lockdown) amid Covid-19 pandemic. Maszlee believes that nobody should be left behind, and that every child deserves an equal opportunity in education. To that end, he has pioneered efforts to improve the access and quality of education for marginalized and disadvantaged communities. He has increased access for nearly 5,000 students from low- income communities in fully sponsored state boarding schools, and is working towards providing free meals to disadvantaged students nationwide. He has introduced the Zero Reject Policy, which ensures that stateless children have access to the national schooling system. In 2018 Maszlee ventured into politics. Aside from his position as a parliamentarian member and a minister, he currently holds various positions, including: • President of Southeast Asia Minister of Education Organization Council (SEAMEO) • President of Malaysia National Commission for UNESCO (MNCU) • Head of the Council of Boy Scouts Malaysia • Chairman of Tunku Abdul Rahman Board of Trustees • President of International Islamic University Malaysia Maszlee was the chair for Malaysian Parliament Select Committee on Education (2021-2022), as well as the head of Pakatan Harapan special committee for education (2021-2023), and was appointed as the Deputy Chairman for Perbadanan Perpustakaan Awam Selangor (PPAS)/ Selangor Public Library since Dec 2021. Maszlee