Born in Parit, First Woman to Become Director-General of the Ministry of Education

Tan Sri Dr. Asiah Abu Samah set a record as the first woman appointed as Director-General of the Ministry of Education on November 27, 1991.

Tan Sri Dr. Asiah Abu Samah was born on March 1, 1937, in Parit, Perak. She received her early education at the Malay Primary School, Kuala Kangsar. Originally, she was a language lecturer at the Lembah Pantai Language Institute in Kuala Lumpur in 1966.

Later, she became the Director of the Curriculum Development Centre at the Ministry of Education Malaysia from 1976 to 1989. In 1991, she was appointed as the Director-General of Education for the Ministry of Education Malaysia.

Indirectly, the appointment and achievements of Tan Sri Dr. Asiah Abu Samah made history as the first Malaysian woman to hold the position of Director-General of Education in Malaysia.

Among the innovations she implemented were developing curriculum and language teaching methods at the Language Institute, Kuala Lumpur, streamlining management, and improving the academic success of Tunku Kurshiah College. She also wrote and published books. Among them are the National Language course books for Form 1 to Form 5, co-authored with Abdul Razak Nordin and Zainol Ariffin in 1962, and the Malay Language book for Upper Secondary, co-authored with Abdul Razak Nordin, also in 1962.