About 92 per cent of 10,180 schools exceeded the target of 65 per cent parents' presence and involvement in school activities last year.

Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the achievement involved six main activities under the Parents' Toolkit, Malaysia Education Blueprint (2013-2025).

The activities are registration day, setting targets day, parent-teacher association annual general meeting, report day, sports day and awards presentation day.

"This shows parents' willingness and determination to help raise the students' performance and schools' achievement," he said after the ministry's excellent service awards presentation to 471 recipients, here, today.

Also present at the ceremony were the Education Ministry's secretary-general Datuk Seri Alias Ahmad and its director-general Tan Sri Dr Khair Mohamed Yusof.

Mahdzir also said that the ministry would extend the 'My New School' initiative to eight schools this year, comprising one school each in Kedah, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Pahang, and two schools each in Sabah and Sarawak.

The initiative to transform, upgrade or repair old, dilapidated rural schools under the National Blue Ocean Strategy had already been implemented in two schools in Sabah and another two in Sarawak, he said. -- Bernama